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http://www.archive.org/details/overborderacadiaOOchas 



OVER THE BORDER 



ACADIA 



THE HOME OF "EVANGELINE" 



BY 



^ 



Z- * ' 



itl) Illustrations in JljEliotgpe from aHater=Color .Sfeetdjes 
BV THE AUTHOR 



*' Here lies the East: does not the day break here?" 

Julius C^sar, II. i. 




BOSTON 
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY 



Copyright, 1SS4, 
By James R. Osgood and Company. 



Ail riehts reserved. 



JSnibersitg ^«8S : 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



0\ 



OOI^TENTS. 



PAGE 

The Bat of Tiindy ■ 19 

The Basin of Minas 29 

Port Eoyal 45 

Annafolis 61 

DiGBY 113 

Halifax 123 

Grand Pre 135 

Clare 153 

L'ISLE DES MONTS DeSERTS 1S3 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Cape Blomidon, Basin of Minas. 

Old Friends' Almshouse, Philadelphia. 

Cape Sharp, Cape Split, and Partridge Island, Bay of 

PUNDY. 

The Old Block House, Ancient Archwat in the Port, 
Annapolis. 

Great St. George's Street, Annapolis. 

The Digrt Gap. 

Grand Pre. 

Map of the Acadian Begion. 



CHRONOLOGY. 



DATK. pigE 

1604. De Monts's first landing on Eastern coast (May 16) 40 
1604. De Monts and suite arrive at Port Royal (about 

June 1) .... 41 

1606. De Monts returns from France with supplies for his 

colony 47 

1606. Port Royal abandoned . 48 

1610. Return of De Poutrincourt 48 

1612. Jesuit priests sent out from France. (Founding of 

St. Sauveur colony at Mt. Desert) 49 

1613. Destruction of Port Royal by Argall (after breaking 

up settlement at Mt. Desert) 50 

1628. Scotch colony broken up. at Port Royal .... 53 

1634. Port Royal held by French under De Razilly . . 53 

1647. Feud between La Tour and D'Aulnay 53 

1654. Port Royal under Le Borgne yields to English . . 55 

1684. Incursions of pirates 55 

1690. Sir Wm. Phipps captures and pillages Port Royal . 55 

1691. Port Royal held by French under De Villebon . . 55 
1707. Unsuccessfully besieged 55 



X CHRONOLOGY. 

DATE. PAGE 

1710. Bombarded by seven English ships; the fort yields; 

name changed to Annapolis Royal 5G 

1713. Treaty of Utrecht, ceding Acadia to the English . . 140 
1727, \ Oatli of allegiance exempting Erencli Acadians from 

' taking arms against Prance 140 

1744. Port Royal bombarded and besieged three months ^ 56 

1745. De Ramezay's unsuccessful attack 57 

1755. Ports Beau-Sejour and Gaspereau taken by Moucton 143 

1755. Dispersion of the "Neutrals" 143-148 

1763. Return of exiles, and founding of coast settlements. 

Treaty between Prance and England 154 

1781. Annapolis Royal surprised and taken by two war ships 57 
1850. Last occupation (by military force) of old fort at 

Annapolis 57 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the rooms of the Historical Society, in Boston, 
hangs a portrait of a distinguished-looking- person in 
quaint but handsome costume of antique style. The 
gold-embroidered coat, long vest with large and nu- 
merous buttons, elegant cocked hat under the arm, 
voluminous white scarf and powdered peruke, com- 
bine to form picturesque attire which is most becom- 
ing to the gentleman therein depicted, and attract 
attention to the genial countenance, causing the visitor 
to wonder who this can be, so elaborately presented 
to the gaze. 

A physiognomist would not decide upon such repre- 
sentation as a " counterfeit presentment " of the ty- 
rannical leader of the expedition which enforced the 
cruel edict of exile, — 

" In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas ; 
where 
Distant, secluded, stil!, the little village of Grand Pre' 
Lay in the fruitful valley." 



12 OVER THE BORDER. 

Yet this is Lieutenant-Colonel John Winslow, great- 
grandson of one of the founders of the Plymouth 
Settlement. Could he forget that his ancestors fled 
from persecution, and came to this country to find 
peaceful homes ? 

It was not his place to make reply, or reason why 
Avhen receiving orders, however ; and it seems that 
the task imposed was a distasteful one ; as, at the 
time of the banishment, he earnestly expressed the 
desire " to he rid of the worst piece of service " he 
" ever was in." 

He said also of the unhappy people at that time, 
" It hurts me to hear their weeping and wailing." 
So we conclude that the pleasant face did not belie 
the heart which it mirrored. 

It is a singular coincidence that, for being hostile 
to their country at the time of the Revolution, his 
own family were driven into exile twenty years after 
the deportation of the unhappy French people. 

Have not even the most prosaic among us some 
love of poesy, though unacknowledged? AndAvho, in 
romantic youth or sober age, has not been touched by 
the tragic story of the dispersion of the people who 

" dwelt together in love, those simple Acadian farmers, — 
Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free from 
Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of repub- 
lics. 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their win- 
dows ; 

But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of their 
owners; 

There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abun- 
dance." 

Of the name Acadia, Principal Dawson says in 
" Canadian Antiquities," that " it signifies primarily 
a place or region, and, in combination with other 
words, a place of plenty or abundance ; ..." a name 
" most applicable to a region which is richer in the 
' chief things of the ancient mountains, the precious 
things of the lasting hills, and the precious things of 
the earth and of the deep that coucheth beneath,' than 
any other portion of America of similar dimensions." 

We naturally infer that the name is French ; but 
our researches prove that it was originally the Indian 
Aquoddie, a pollock, — not a poetic or romantic sig- 
nificance. This was corrupted by the French into 
Accadle, L'Acadie, Cadie. 

So little originality in nomenclature is shown in 
America, that we could desire that Indian names 
should be retained ; that is, when not too long, or 
harsh in sound ; yet in this case we are inclined to 
rejoice at the change from the aboriginal to the more 
musical modern title. 

Though a vast extent of territory was once em- 



14 OVER THE BORDER. 

braced under that name, it is now merely a rather 
fanciful title for a small part of the Province of Nova 
Scotia. 

Acadia ! The Bay of Fundy ! There 's magic even 
in the names ; the very sound of them calling up 
visions of romance, and causing anticipations of 
amazing displays of Nature's wonders. Fundy ! the 
marvel of our childhood, filling the mind's eye in 
those early school days with that astounding picture, 
— a glittering wall of green crystal, anywhere from 
ten to one hundred feet in height, advancing on the 
land like the march of a mighty phalanx, as if to 
overwhelm and carry all before it ! Had it not been 
our dream for years to go there, and prove to our 
everlasting satisfaction whether childish credulity had 
been imposed upon ? 

Our proposed tourists, eight in number, being a 
company with a leaning towards music, bound to be 
harmonious, desiring to study the Diet-tonic as illus- 
trated by the effects of country fare and air, con- 
solidate under the title of the Octave. The chaper- 
one, who we all know is a dear, is naturally called 
"■ Do "(e) ; one, being under age, is dubbed the Minor 
Third ; while the exclamatory, irrepressible, and inex- 
luiustible members from the Hub are known as " La" 
and '• Si." 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

Having decided upon our objective point, the next 
thing is to find out how to reach it ; and here, at the 
outset, we are surprised at the comparative ignorance 
shown regarding a region which, though seemingly 
distant, is in reality so accessible. We are soon in- 
clined to quote from an old song, — 

" Thou art so near and yet so far," 
as our blundering investigations seem more likely to 
prove how not to get anywhere ! 

But we set to work to accumulate railroad litera- 
ture in the shape of maps, schedules, excursion books ; 
and these friendly little pamphlets prove delightful 
pathfinders, convincing us how readily all tastes can 
• be suited ; as some wish to go by water, some by 
land, and some by " a little of both." Thus, those 
who are on good terms with old Neptune may take 
a pleasant voyage of twenty-six hours direct from 
Boston to the distant village of Annapolis, Nova 
Scotia, which is our prospective abiding place ; while 
those who prefer can have " all rail route," or, if more 
variety is desired, may go by land to St. John, New 
Brunswick, and tlience by steamboat across the Bay 
of Fundy. At last the company departs on its several 
ways, and in sections, that the dwellers in that re- 
mote old town of historic interest may not be struck 
breathless by such an invasion of foreigners. 



16 OVER THE BORDER. 

The prime mover of the expedition, having already 
travelled as far east as Bangor, commences the jour- 
ney at night from that city. Strange to say, no jar 
or unusual sensation is experienced when the iron 
horse passes the boundary ; nor is anything novel 
seen when the train known as the " Flying Yankee " 
halts for a brief breathing spell at MacAdam Station. 
A drowsy voice volunteers tlie information : " It is a 
forsaken region here." Another of our travellers re- 
plies, " Appearances certainly indicate that the Colos- 
sus of Roads is absent, and it is to be hoped that he 
is mending his ways elsewhere." Then the speakers, 
tipping their reclining chairs to a more recmnbent 
posture, drift off to the Land of Nod. 

With morning comes examination of travellers' 
possessions at the custom-house, with amusing exhi- 
bitions of peculiarly packed boxes and bags, recalling 
funny episodes of foreign tours, while giving to this 
one a novel character ; then the train speeds on for 
seven hours more. 



THE BAY OF FUNDY. 



OYER THE BORDER. 



THE BAY OF FUNDY. 

Ere long singular evidence of proximity to 
the wonderful tides of the Bay of Fundy is 
seen, as all the streams show sloping banks, 
stupendously muddy; mud reddish brown in 
color, smooth and oily looking, gashed with 
seams, and with a lazily moving rivulet in the 
bed of the stream from whence the retreating- 
tide has sucked away the volume of water. 

" What a Paradise for bare-footed boys, and 
children with a predilection for mud pies ! " 
exclaims one of the tourists; while the other — 
the practical, prosaic — remarks, ''It looks like 
the chocolate frosting of your cakes ! " for 
which speech a shrivelling look is received. 

This great arm of the sea, reaching up so far 
into the land, and which tried to convert Nova 



20 OVER THE BOEDER. 

Scotia into an island (as man proposes to make 
it, by channelling the isthmus), was known to 
early explorers as La Baie Francoise, its pres- 
ent cognomen being a corrugation of the French, 
Fond-de-la Baie. 

Being long, narrow, and running into the 
land like a tunnel, the tide rises higher and 
higher as it ascends into the upper and nar- 
rowest parts ; thus in tlie eastern arm, the 
Basin of Minas, the tidal swell rises forty feet, 
sometimes fifty or more in spring. 

In Chignecto Bay, which extends in a more 
northerly direction from the greater bay, the 
rise has been known to reach seventy feet in 
spring, though it is usually between fifty and 
sixty at other times. Here, in the estuary of 
the Petitcodiac, where the river meets the wave 
of the tide, the volumes contending cause the 
Great Bore, as it is called; and as in this 
region the swine wade out into the mud in 
search of shell fish, they are sometimes swept 
away and drowned. The Amazon River also 
has its Bore ; the Indians, trying to imitate the 
sound of the roaring water, call it ''pororoca." 



THE BAY OF FUNDY. 21 

In the Hoogly it is shown ; and in a river of 
China, tlie Teintang, it advances np the stream 
at the rate of twentj^-five miles an hour, caus- 
ing a rise of thirty feet. In some northern 
countries the Bore is called the Eagre. Octav- 
ius says this must be because it screws its way 
so eagrelf/ into the land, but is immediately 
suppressed, and informed that the name is a 
corruption of Oegir, the Scandinavian god of 
the sea, of whom we learn as follows : — 

Odin, the father of the gods, creator of the 
world, possessing greatest power and Avisdom, 
holds the position in Scandinavian mythology 
that Zeus does in the Greek. Like the Olym- 
pian Jupiter, he held the thunder-bolts in his 
hand ; but differed from the more inert divinity 
of Greece in that, arrayed in robes of cloud, 
he rode through the universe on his marvel- 
lous steed, which had eight feet. This idea was 
characteristic of a hardy race living a wild out- 
door life in a rigorous climate. Oegir, the god 
of the sea, was a jotun, but friendly to Odin. 
The jotuns were giants, and generally exerted 
their powers to the injury of man, but, not be- 



22 OVER THE BORDER. 

ing gifted with full intelligence, could be con- 
quered by men. The first jotun, named Ymer, 
Odin subdued, and of his flesh formed the earth, 
of his bones the mountains ; the ocean Avas his 
blood, his brains the clouds, while from his 
skull the arch of the heavens was made. 

We resolved to witness the singular spectacle 
of the Oegir of Fundy ; but, not receiving 
answer to our application for accommodations 
at Moncton, proceeded on our way, consoling 
ourselves with the thought that we could see a 
bore any day, without taking any special pains 
or going much out of our way. 

The Basin of Minas ! What a "flood of 
thoughts" rise at the name. Fancy paints 
dreamy and fascinating pictures of the fruitful 
and verdant meadow land, the hills, the woods, 
the simple-hearted, childlike peasants ; upright, 
faithful, devout, leading blameless lives of 
placid serenity : 

"At peace with God and the world." 

It seemed that there must . be some means 
of crossing the beauteous Basin whence the 
broken-hearted exiles sailed away so sadly ; and 



THE BAY OF FUNDY. 23 

that any tourist with a particle of romance 
or sentiment in his composition would g-lacUy 
make even a wide detour to visit it. Therefore 
we were surprised to learn that railroad sched- 
ules said nothing of this route, and that it seemed 
almost unknown to summer pleasure seekers. 
Not to be deterred, however, what better can 
one do than write, direct for information to 
Parrsboro, — a pretty village, which is the 
nearest point to the Basin. Tims we learn that 
a short railway, connecting with the Intercolo- 
nial, will convey us thither, though not a road 
intended for passenger service. 

''It will only add to the novelty and interest 
of our tour," we say. We rather hope it Avill 
prove a very i)eculiar road, and are prepared for 
discomfort which we do not find ; altliough, at 
Spring Hill, the point of divergence from the 
main line, such a queer train is waiting, that 
one exclaims, " Surely we have come into the 
backwoods at last ! " 

The car is divided in the middle, the forward 
part devoted to baggage, while in the rear por- 
tion, on extremely low-backed and cushionless 



24 OVER THE BORDER. 

seats, beside tiny, sliadeless windows, sit the 
passengers. And such passengers ! We men- 
tally ejaculate something about '' Cruikshank's 
caricatures come to life." With naucli prelimi- 
nary clanking of chains, a most dolorous 
groaning and creaking of the strange vehicle, 
a shudder and jar, the train is in motion, 
and slowly proceeding through densely wood- 
ed and wild country, — a coal and lumber dis- 
trict, where only an occasional log house re- 
lieves the monotony of the scene, — log huts 
which look as if they have strayed away from 
the far South and dropped down in this wil- 
derness. At intervals, with a convulsive jerk 
which brings to their feet some new travellers 
on this peculiar line, the train halts to take on 
lumber ; and one of our tourists remarks, " This 
old thing starts like an earthquake, and stops 
as if colliding with a stone wall;" and con- 
tinues : " Do you think the poet who longed 
for ' a lodge in some vast wilderness,' would 
have been satisfied with this I " Without wait- 
ing for a reply, the next remark is: "We are 
looking for summer accommodations ; don't you 



THE BAY OF FUNDY. 25 

think we could find board cheap here ? " The 
prosaic one, ignoring such an attempt at pleas- 
antr}^, replies, " Five dollars per thousand feet, 
I have been told." 

When the conductor, in a huge straw hat 
and rough suit, sans collar or cravat, comes to 
collect tickets, the satirical one asks, '^ Will he 
punch them with his penknife, or clip them with 
a pair of old scissors I " 

We have 

" Heard of the -wonderful one-hoss shay, 
That was built in such a logical way- 
It ran a hundred years to a day," 

and conclude that the S. H. & P. R R. resem- 
bles it somewhat ; and that, although there is a 
"general flavor of mild decay" about it in 
some respects, it will not be in danger of wear- 
ing out from high rate of speed ; but who cares 
about time when on a holiday f 

At last, in the distance, a range of blue hills 
becomes visible, with a faint, far gleam of wa- 
ter ; and, as the blue line abruptly descends to 
the glistening streak below, we know in an 



26 OVER THE BORDER. 

instant what that promontory must be, and 
ecstatically quote with one voice, — 

"Away to the northward Blomidon rose," 

regardless of geography, as that Cape happens, 
in this case, to be south of us. 

Having received information by mail that 
''bosses and carages" are to be found at Parrs- 
boro, and that the sailing of tlie steamer is 
"rooled by the tide," eager looks are cast about 
on alighting at that charming village, the na- 
tives of which, to our surprise, are not back- 
woodsmen or roup-li countrvmen. Mine host, 
genial and gentlemanly, becomes visible ; and 
we are soon bowling merrily along through the 
neat village, the picturesque country beyond, 
and aa-e set down at a refreshingly old-timey 
inn directly on the shore of the Basin of Minas, 
which bursts suddenly upon the view, amazing 
one by its extent and beauty. We exclaim in 
surprise, "Why, it looked no larger than one's 
thumb nail on the map ! " 



THE BASIN OF MINAS. 



THE BASIN OF MINAS. 

A CURVING beach with rolHng surf, a long 
and very high pier, showing the gi-eat rise of 
the tide, —at this point sixty feet in tlie sprino-, 
— and directly before one the peculiarly striking 
promontory of Blomidon, with the red sand- 
stone showing through the dark pines clothing 
his sides, and at his feet a powerful "rip" toss- 
ing the water into chopped seas ; a current so 
strong that a six-knot breeze is necessary to 
carry a vessel through the passage which here 
opens into the Bay of Fundy. 

This is the place where schedules said nothing 
of a boat to convey the tourist across the inland 
sea— of thirty miles' width — to the railroad on 
its south shore, — tlie line which bears on its 
rolling stock the ominous initials W. A. R, but 
passes through the most peaceful country nev- 
ertheless. Yet our genial host's assurances 



30 OVER THE BORDER. 

that such a vessel will come are not to be 
doubted ; and, after a dainty repast, a group 
sits on the pier, watching ghostly ships and 
smaller craft emerge from and vanish into the 
mist. As the mists disperse and the moon comes 
out clearly, it reveals the ^' Hiawatha " approach- 
ing, — a graceful propeller of five hundred tons 
burden, and one hundred and some odd feet 
in length. 

Partridge Island, which is close at hand, 
commands exceptionally fine views, as Blomidon 
does also ; the famous Capes d'Or and Chig- 
necto, seven hundred and thirty to eight hun- 
dred feet higli, with Advocate Harbor, are 
within pleasant driving distance. There are 
twenty varieties of minerals on Blomidon ; as 
many more, with jaw-testing names, on Par- 
tridge Island "and thereabout;" so in tliis 
locality a geologist would become quite ecstatic. 
Some of the finest marine scenery of the Prov- 
inces, as well as lovely inland views and the 
noted and singular Five Islands, can be seen 
within a radius of twenty miles. 

" No country is of much interest until legends 



THE BASIN OF MINAS. 31 

and poetry have draped it in hues that mere 
nature cannot produce," says a pleasant modern 
writer. 

Geologists believe that the range of hills 
known as the North Mountain w^as once a Ions' 
narrow island, and that a shoal gradually 
formed near Blomidon, in time filling in until 
that headland became part of the inainland. 

This striking cape, five hundred and seventy 
feet high, one would naturally expect to find 
associated with strange wild myths of the 
aborigines ; and 

" Ye who love a nation's legends, 
That like voices from afar off 
Call to us to pause and listen," 

attend then ! 

It seems that this was the favorite resort of 
Glooscap, the Indian giant, who, like " Kwa- 
sind the Strong Man," in '' HiaAvatha," entered 
into a fierce combat here with the Great Beaver 
(Ahmeek, King of the Beavers, is spoken of in 
that same poem), and contended with the gigan- 
tic creature in similar manner, throwinof huo-e 
masses of rock, which, falling in the water, 



32 OVER THE BORDER. 

became, in tins case, tlie Five Islands. The 
Indian legend says that at this point a stu- 
pendous dam was built by the Great Beaver ; 
and because this was flooding the Cornwallis 
valley, Glooscap, whose supernatural power 
was unlimited, broke and bent it into its pres- 
ent shape, forming Cape Blomidon, afterwards 
strewing the promontory with gems, some of 
which he carried away to adorn ''his myste- 
rious female companion." Here also he held a 
wonderful feast with another giant ; and, ordi- 
nary fish not sufficing to satisfy their enormous 
appetites, the two embarked in a stone canoe, 
sailed out into the Great Lake of Uniras, 
as they called the Basin, and there speared a 
whale, which they brought to the shore and 
devoured at short notice. The approach of the 
white man causing the Indian giant to desert 
his old haunts, he sailed out on the great 
water and vanished from sight ; but some day, 
when men and animals live together in peace 
and friendship, he will return and resume his 
royal sway on the Basin of Minas. Before his 
departure he gave a farewell feast to all the 




OLD FKIENDS ALMSHOUSE. 



THE BASIN OF MIX AS. 33 

animals, who swarmed from all over the coun- 
try, turned his dog's into stone, and left his 
kettle overturned in the shape of an island 
near Cape Spencer, across Minas Channel. 
Since that time tlie loons, wlio were his hunters, 
wander sadly about the wildest lakes and rivers, 
searching- for their master, uttering their do- 
lorous cries ; and the owls keep up tlieir part of 
tlie lament, crying " Koo koo skoos," which, 
being" Indian language, they evidently learned 
from the giant, and, being interpreted, signifieth 
" I am sorry." 

The crown of France is adorned with a fine 
ametli^'st from Blomidon ; and those early 
ex^dorers, De Monts and Co., "found in the 
neighborhood" (of Parrsboro) " chrystals and 
blue stones of a sliining colour, similar in 
appearance to those known by tlie name of 
Turkeese." One of the company, " having 
found a beautiful specimen of this kind, broke it 
into two pieces, and gave one to De Monts, and 
the other to Poutrincourt, Avho, on their return 
to Paris, had tliem liandsomely set by a jeweller, 
and presented them to the King and Queen." 



34 OVER THE BORDER. 

At the base of Cape d'Or there is a very 
powerful ciirrent witli great maelstroms ; this 
is known as the Styx, and throngh these terri- 
ble whirlpools two fishermen were carried this 
season (I880), one losing his life; while the 
other, an expert swimmer and athlete, was 
saved by less than a hair's-breadth, and after- 
wards described most thrillingly his sensations 
on being drawn into and ejected from the 
frightful vortices. 

Just at daybreak, when Blomidon looks out 
all glowing from the gauzy veil of mist, as 
the lazv zephyr wafts it aside, and the placid 
water repeats the glorious tints of radiant 
clouds, we regretfully take our departure. 
Cape Sharp and Cape Split, bold promontories 
which stand like mighty sentinels guarding the 
entrance to the Bay of Fundy, appear in clear- 
est azure and violet; while the mountains of 
the north shore are sharply defined in pure 
indigo against the brilliant sky, as the propel- 
ler steams away. The sail across, two hours 
and a half in length, is a vision of ideal and 
poetic beauty, all too -brief; and as we step 



THE BASIN OF MINAS. 35 

ashore we feel tempted to quote, "Take, oli 
boatman, thrice thy fee ! " 

At this point (Hantsport) Ave take the W. and 
A. R. R., and in a few lioiirs are set down at the 
place which we have been so long planning to 
reach; the place of which our host, who is 
probably not familiar with the history of St. 
Augustine, Florida, wrote proudly as "the old- 
est town in North America." 

It certainly is one of tlie oldest settlements in 
North America, having been founded in 1604, 
and, until 1750, it was the capital of the whole 
peninsula of Nova Scotia : Annapolis, — the 
old Port Royal, the historical town which has 
been the scene of so manv struo^s^les and bitter 
contentions ; but is now the very picture of 
peace and utterly restful quiet. 

Here tlie Eight settle down for a long 
sojourn ; basking in the delicious atmosphere, 
devoting- themselves to searching" out tlie most 
picturesque views, in a series of rambles, 
drives, and excursions, and visiting all points 
for miles around, to which history and ro- 
mance have added charms almost as great as 



36 OVER THE BORDER. 

those of river and mountain wliicli they always 
possessed. 

Those of our party who hail from the city 
of Brotherly Love naturally feel a special 
interest in Acadia and the sad story of Long- 
fellow's heroine ; as a patent for the princi- 
pality of Acadia, which included the whole 
American coast from Philadelphia to Montreal, 
was given by the "impulsive and warm- 
hearted monarch," Henry IV. of France, to 
Pierre du Guast, the Sieur de Monts, con- 
stituting him governor of that country, and 
giving him the trade and revenues of the 
region. 

Consequently some of the ancestors of our 
Philadelphia friends were Acadians, though 
not French peasantry. 

There also : — 

" In that delightful land which is washed hy the Delaware's 

waters, 
Guarding in sylvan shades the name of Penn the apostle, 
Stands on the banks of its beautiful stream the city he 

founded. 
There all the air is balm, and the peach is the emblem of 

beauty, 



THE BASIN OF MINAS. 37 

And the streets still re-echo the names of the trees of the 

forest, 
As if they fain would appease the Dryads whose haunts 

they molested. 
There from the troubled sea had Evangeline landed, an exile, 
Finding among the children of Penn a homo and a country." 

In that sedate and sober city was 

" the almshouse, home of the homeless. 
Then in the suburbs it stood, in the midst of meadows 

and woodlands; 
Xow the city surrounds it ; but still, with its gateway and 

"\\*icket 
Meek in the midst of splendor, its humble walls seem to 

echo 
Softly the words of the Lord, — ' The poor ye have always 

with you.' " 

There the sad exile's weary search was at 
last rewarded ; the long-parted lovers were re- 
united, though but for a moment on the verge 
of the grave ; and thus was ended 

" the hope and the fear and the sorrow, 
All the aching of heart, the restless, iinsatistied longing, 
All the dull, deep pain, and constant anguish of jjatience ! " 

The city almshouse stood, we are told, at the 
corner of Twelfth and Spruce Streets ; but the 
belief is quite general (and we incline de- 



38 OVER THE BORDER. 

cidedly to that) that our beloved poet intended 
by his description to portray the quaint build- 
ing formerly known as the Friends' Almshouse, 
which stood in Walnut Place (opening off of 
Walnut Street below Fourth), and which was 
torn down in 1872 or 1873 to give place to 
railroad and lawyers' offices. 

The entrance from the street, by ^'gateway 
and wicket," as the poem says, led through a 
narrow passage way ; and there faced one a 
small, low-roofed house, built of alternate red 
and black bricks (the latter glazed), almost 
entirely covered by an aged ivy which clam- 
bered over the roof The straggling branches 
even nodded above the wide chimneys ; at 
both sides of the door stood comfortable set- 
tles, inviting to rest; and the pretty garden 
charmed with its bloom and fragrance. The 
whole formed such a restful retreat, such an 
oasis of quiet in the very heart of the busy 
city, that one was tempted often to make ex- 
cuses for straying into the peaceful enclosure. 

In a book printed for private circulation in 
Philadelphia some years ago, there is an item 



THE BASIN OF MINAS. 39 

of interest about the Acadians. The author 
narrates that she and a young- companion, in 
their strolls to the suburbs, where they went to 
visit the Pennsylvania Hospital (Eightli and 
Pine Streets, now in the lieart of the city), were 
timid because obliged to pass the place where 
the "French Neutrals" were located. 

These people, because they were foreigners, 
and there was some mystery about them which 
the girls did not tlien understand, inspired them 
with fear ; though Philadelphia residents of that 
time testify that the homeless and destitute 
strangers were in reality a very simple and in- 
offensive company, when, "friendless, homeless, 
hopeless, tliey wandered from city to city." 
Tlirough the influence of Anthony Benezet, a 
member of the Society of Friends, they were 
provided with homes on Pine Street above 
Sixth, where the two little wooden houses still 
stand ; one, when we last saw it, being painted 
blue. 

What a picturesque company of adventurers 
were those French noblemen, who, turning 
their backs upon the luxuries and fascinations 



40 ovi:i: the border. 

of court V\i\\ saileil :nvny to tlii^ wild aiul di;?- 
taiu land, wlioiv, in tlio pnriSiut of gain, fame, 
(.n- nuvivh- adventuiv, tliey were to sniper abso- 
lute }iri\ati(>n anil liardslnp ; eonj^cu'lini;- with 
srsavagvs in plaee of the plumed and pampered 
denizens ot" palaees. 

After a probably tempestuous A'ovag'e across 
the bleak Atlantic, and a merciless butfeting- 
tVom l-'undy in the spriuLi" of 1(>04, the prospec- 
riN e Cbnernor ot" the ^-reat territory known as 
Acadia was sailhiii' alon^- this coast, whicli 
presents sueli a forbiilding- aspect from the 
l>av, makino- his first haven Alay Itu At that 
time, we can readily iniau-iue, in tliis northern 
rci^ion the weather would not be very balmy. 
Kven now tlie wild rockv shore stretches along- 
dreariU- — though with certain stern pictnr- 
esqueness — as far as eye can reach, and then 
must have been even less attractive, as it showed 
no sign ot' habitation. 

Champlain was somewhat familiar with these 
shores t'rom tornun- vo\'ages, and so had been 
chosen as pilot ; but Pe Poutrinconrt and Pont- 
fi-nw. other associates of Pierre du Ouast. tlie 



THE BASIN OF MINAS. 41 

Sieur de Monts, doubtless looked askance at 
each other, or indulged in the expressive French 
shrug as the cheerless panorama passed before 
them. On that 16th of May, at the harbor 
where the little town of Liverpool is now 
situated, De Monts found another Frenchman 
engaged in hunting and fishing, ignoring, or 
regardless of, the rights of any one else ; and 
without ado tliis interloper (so considered by 
De Monts) was nabbed; the only consolation 
he received being the honor of transmitting his 
name, Rossignol, to the harbor, — a name since 
transferred to a lake in the vicinity. 

After a sojourn of two weeks at another 
point (St. Mary's Bay), the explorers proceeded 
northward ; and at last a particularly inviting 
harbor presented itself, causing the mental 
vision of the new Governor and his company 
to assume more hopeful aspect, as they turned 
their course thither and pronounced it ** Port 
Royal ! " 



PORT ROYAL. 



PORT ROYAL. 

Here they managed to exist through the 
winter with as much comfort as circumstances 
would admit of; but with the return of sum- 
mer were on the wing again, in search of 
more sahibrious climate and more southerly 
locality for the establishment of a colony, sail- 
inof along- the coast of Maine and Massachu- 
setts as far as Cape Cod. 

Attempts were made to establish settlements, 
but the natives proved unfriendly ; the foreign- 
ers had not a sufficient force to subdue them ; 
and, as De Monts was obliged to return to 
France, De Poutrincourt and his companions 
established' themselves again at Port Royal. 
Here, to while away the long winter, the gay 
adventurers established a burlesque court, which 
they christened " L'Ordre de Bon Temps ; " and 
of the merry realm each of the fifteen principal 



46 OVER THE BORDER. 

persons of the colony became supreme ruler in 
turn. As the Grand Master's sway lasted but 
a day, each one, as he assumed that august 
position, i)ridcd himself on doing- his utmost to 
eclipse his predecessor in lavish provision for 
feasting. Forests were scoured for game ; fish 
were brought from the tempest-tossed waters 
of the Bay, or sjieared through the ice of 
L'Kquille ; so the table fairly groaned M'itli the 
luxuries of these winter revellers in the Avilds 
of Acadia. With ludicrous caricature of court 
ceremonial, the rulers of tlie feast marched to 
the table, where their invited guests, the In- 
dian chiefs, sat with tliem around the board ; 
the s(piaws and children squatting on the floor, 
watching for bits which the lively company 
now and then tossed to them. " They sa}- " 
that an aged sachem, when dying, asked if he 
should liave })ies in heaven as good as those 
which he had eaten at Poutrincourt's table ! 

To the Indians, tlie greatest delicacy of all 
on the table was bread. This, to them a dainty 
viand, they were always ready to consume -vA'ith 
gusto ; but were invariably aveise to grinding 



PORT ROYAL. 47 

tlie corn, altliougli i)roniiso(l luilf of the meal 
as recompense for their labor. The <,'Tiii(lIii<>- 
was performed with a hand-mill, and coiise- 
qnently so laborious and tedious that the sav- 
ages would rather suffer hunger than submit to 
such drudgery, which they also seemed to think 
degrading" to the fi-ee sons of i\w, forest. 

Proverbially lickle are princes ; nnd of this 
l)e Monts was convinced on his return to France, 
for during his absence he had lost favor with 
his sovereign, Henry IV., who revoked his 
commission ; still he succeeded, after many dif- 
ficidties, in procuring supplies for his ccdony, 
and arrived just in time to prevent his })eo})le 
from leaving Port lloyal discouraged and dis- 
heartened. One mend)er of the little conunu- 
nity of Frenchmen was Lescarbot, a lawyer, 
who was talented, poetical, and did much to 
enliven the others during the absence of their 
leader, who, on his return, was received by a 
procession of masqueraders, headed by Neptune 
and tritons, reciting verses written by Lescar- 
bot. Over the entrances to the fort and to the 
Governor's apartments were suspended wreaths 



48 OVER THE BORDER. 

of laurel and garlands surrounding Latin mot- 
toes, — all the work of the pastimist (if one 
may coin such a word). The relief and en- 
couragement brought by De Monts were but 
temporary, and in the spring (1606) news was 
received that nothing more could be sent to the 
colonists, and they must be disbanded. 

Imagination portrays the strange picture pre- 
sented at this time in this remote region : the 
gay French courtiers vanishing from the sight 
of their Indian comrades almost as suddenly 
and mysteriously as they had appeared but 
three years before, and lea^ang their dusky 
boon companions lamenting on the shore. The 
eyes of the savages — that race who pride them- 
selves on their stoicism — were actually dimmed 
with tears as they watched the vessel fading 
away in the distance. 

For four years ''ye gentle sauvage" pursued 
the even tenor of his way, and consoled him- 
self as best he could for the absence of the 
lively revellers who had cheered his solitude ; 
then, presumably to his delight (in 1610), he saw 
Poutrincourt returning. That nobleman had 




I. Cape Sharp, Bay ok Funoy. 
2. Cape Split. 3 Partridge Island. 



PORT ROYAL. 49 

promised the kino- to exert himself for the con- 
version of tlie Indians. Three years hiter a com- 
pany of Jesuits sailed \oy this port with tlie same 
object in view; but, losing- their reckoning, they 
founded settlements at Mt. Desert instead. 

Madame do Guercheville, a true woman in- 
deed, who was honored aud respected in a dis- 
solute court where honor was almost unknown, 
had become a. zealous advocate of the conver- 
sion of Indians in America ; and throujih her 
means and influence several priests of the 
Jesuit order were sent out in I()12 to tliis set- 
tlement. The sachems, with members of their 
tribes living at Port l\oyal, were baptized, 
twenty-one at one time, with mnch show of 
rejoicing typified by hring of cannon, waving 
of banners, blaring of trumpets. Souie doubt 
is expressed whether the savages fully under- 
stood what it was all about, and ^^ hat their con- 
fession of faith fully signified ; as one chief, on 
being instructed in the Lord's Prayer, objected 
to asking for bread alone, sa3nng that he wished 
f(n' moose flesh and fish also ; and wlien oiu^ of 
the priests deliberately set to work, witli note- 

4 



50 OVER THE BORDER. 

book and quill, to learn the language of the 
aborigines by asking one man the Indian words 
for various French ones (to him totally incom- 
prehensible), the savage, with malice afore- 
thought, purposely gave him words of evil 
signification, which did not assist the French- 
man in enlightening other members of this be- 
niofhted race. Perceiving- the trick which had 
been played upon him by the savage, who had 
been so perplexed by his questioning, the 
priest declared that Indian possessed by the 
Devil ! However, with all its discouragements, 
this was the opening of the work of the Jesuits 
in America ; in which even those who might 
have thought their zeal at times mistaken could 
not but respect them for the noble heroism, dis- 
played during so many years, in their work of 
civilizing and enlightening the savages. 

Even in these olden times there were turbu- 
lent marauders abroad ; and one such, Argall, 
from Virginia, after destroying the settlement 
at Somes Sound (Mt. Desert), pounced upon 
this peaceful station, destroying the fort and 
scattering the colonists (1613). 



PORT ROYAL. . 51 

The section known as Virginia Avas granted 
in 1606 to the London and Plymonth Compa- 
nies ; and as that portion embraced the country 
between 34° and 45° north hititude, it seems 
that Argall pretended that the French at Port 
Royal were interlopers, usurping his rights ; 
but as De Monts had received in 1604 a charter 
for the country defined as lying between 40° 
and 46° north latitude, Argall had no right to 
dispossess De Monts or his successor. 

Notwithstanding that a member of Argall's 
company speaks of him as "a gentleman of 
noble courage," that does not prevent us from 
considering him a rascal ; for at this time 
France and England were at peace, and he was 
unauthorized in his base and tyrannous inva- 
sion of Port Royal. Before his attack on this 
quiet, peaceful station, he had shown greatest 
treachery at Somes Sound, Mt. Desert, where 
he stole Saussaye's commission and cast adrift 
in an open boat fifteen of the colonists. 

Poutrincourt's son, Biencourt, was now Gov- 
ernor of Acadia, and stationed at Port Royal. 
He endeavored to make terms with Argall, and 



52 OVER THE BORDER. 

offered to divide with him the proceeds of the 
fur trade and the mines ; but this was refused, 
and the settlement broken up, some of the 
imfortunate Frenchmen joining Champlain at 
Quebec, some scattering into the woods among 
the Indians, while others were carried to Eng- 
land and from thence demanded by the French 
ambassador. Thus, after only a little more 
than eight years from the time of settlement, 
the colony was entirely broken up, 

En passant : A friend of ours, who with his 
faniily passed a summer in New Hampshire, 
" at the roots of the White Mountains," as some 
one expressed it, surprised an old farmer by 
asking" the names of hills in sioht from that 
particular locality. Tlie reply was, " I dono, 
and I dono as I care ; but you city folks, when 
you come here, are allers askin' questions." 
We conclude that we are liable to be classed 
in a siniilar categor^^ ; and, in fact, the Dabbler 
when sketching one day is asked, " Ain't 
some of your party writing a book 1 " The 
interrogator's mind is set at rest by being an- 
swered that the reason we have become ani- 



PORT ROYAL. , 53 

mated notes of interrogation is because we are 
interested in the history of the old town ; but 
it is fearful to think for what that innocent lad 
is responsible : putting notions in people's heads, 
and causing this volume to be inflicted on a 
suffering world ! 

To return to our subject. The olive branch 
was not yet to be the emblem of this spot, now 
so peaceful, for a colony of Scotch people were 
next routed (1628), and the place left in ruins, 
when a season of quiet ensued ; but this w^as 
virtually the conmiencement of the French and 
English wars in North America, continuing; 
with slight intermissions, until the treaty of 
1763, by wliicli France gave up her posses- 
sions in America. 

In 1634 Port Royal fell into French hands 
again, when Claude de Razilly was Governor, 
and here for a short time lived La Tour, one 
of his lieutenants, who kept up such bitter 
feuds with D'Aulnay, wlio held like position to 
his own, and whose stor}^ Whittier relates in 
his poem, '' St. John, 1647." 

Madame de la Tour must have been one of 



64 OVER THE BORDER. 

the earliest advocates of women's rights, as 
she so bravely held the fort of St. Joliii in her 
luisband's absence. 

" ' But wluit of my lady ? ' 
Crioil Charles of Estionno. 
' On the shot-crumbled turret 
Thy lady was seou : 
Half veiled in the smoke-cloud 
11(U' hand grasped thy pennon, 
While her dark tresses swayed 
In the hot breath of cannon ! . 

Of its sturdy defenders, 
Thy lady alone 

Saw the cross-blazoned banner 
Float over St. John. 

Alas for thy lady ! 

No service from thee 

Is needed by her 

Whom the Lord hath set free : 

Nine days, in stern silence, 

Her thraldom she bore. 

But the tenth morning came 

And Death opened her door ! '" 

Hannay says she was '' tlie first and great- 
est of Acadian heroines, — a woman whose 
name is as proudly enshrined in the history of 



PORT ROYAL. 66 

this land as tliat of any sceptred qneen in 
European story." 

For a long series of years this post of l\)rt 
Royal was the bone of contention between 
the French and Eng-lish; tlie fort, beino- liold 
for a time by one i)ower, tlien by tlie other, 
representing the shuttle-cock when these con- 
tending nations battled at her doors. In 1054 
the place was held by the French under Le 
Borgne. An attack by the English was suc- 
cessful, though the French were well garri- 
soned and provisioned. 

In Do Razilly's time La Tour, who might 
have been satisfied with his possessions at St. 
John, assailed it; then English ])irates took the 
fishing fleet (U>84); next Sir William Pliipps 
ca})tured and i)illaged the fort in 1090. Shortly 
after this, pirates from the West Indies plun- 
dered the place; and in 1091 it again fell into 
the hands of the French under l)e Villebon. 
It was still to undergo two sieges in 1 707, 
when, under Subiu-case, the besiegtn-s were 
repulsed; and in 1710 seven ships with Eng- 
lish marines bombarded the fort for several 



5Q OVER THE BORDER. 

days. The garrison at last, being in starving 
condition, were forced to yield ; and the victors 
christened the place Annapolis Royal, in honor 
of their sovereign then reigning in Great 
Britain. 

The subjugation of this part of "New 
France" made Nova Scotia an English prov- 
ince ; and for a time tliis realm might have 
answered to the description of Easselas's Hap- 
py Valley ; the thrifty, honest people relieved 
from '' wars and rumors of wars," and taking 
up the quiet, contented routine of every-day 
life. 

" Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife 
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way." 

But in 1744 the reign of siege and terror 
began again, and the town Avas destroyed by 
bombardment and incendiary fires, when, for 
nearly three months, Laloutre and Duvivier 
besieged tlie fort. The garrison, augmented 
by troops from Louisburg, and assisted by 
provisions and men from Boston, finally re- 
j)ulsed their assailants. The next year there 



PORT ROYAL. 51 

was another assault under De Raniezay, which 
was unsuccessful ; and after the dispersion 
of the Acadians (1755), the much-fought-over 
place was . allowed to remain in quiet until 
1781, 'when two American ships-of-war sailed 
up the river at nig-ht. Their forces, taking 
the fort by surprise, robbed the houses, after 
imprisoning the people in the old block-house. 
Since that time the English have retained pos- 
•session of this much-disputed territory ; the 
fort has been unarmed and unoccupied (by 
military force) since 1850, when the Rifle Bri- 
gade were stationed here ; but the todium of 
garrison life proving still more irksome here, 
and desertions being frequent, the fort was 
abandoned as a military post. 



ANNAPOLIS. 



ANNAPOLIS. 

What a fascination there is about that old 
fort at Annapolis! — "the hornet's nest," as it 
was called in the olden time ; the stronghold 
which withstood so many sieges, and was the 
subject of constant contentions in by-gone 
years. 

The hours slip by unnoted when one sits on 
the ramparts dreaming and gazing on the broad 
sweep of river, the distant islands, the undulat- 
ing lines of the mountain ranges. The sleepy- 
looking cows wander lazily about, cropping the 
grass on the embankments, and even clamber 
over the ancient archway. 

One peoples the place with imaginary mar- 
tial figures, and is almost startled when the 
stillness is broken by a rustle and approaching 
footsteps, and turns, as if expecting to see glit- 
tering uniforms appearing through the crum- 



62 OVER THE BORDER. 

hWng arch ; but it is only old Moolly, who 
(lelibomtely walks into the inner enclosure, and, 
if " our special artist on the spot" has left his 
sketcli for a moment, probably puts her foot in 
it, witli the air of one who should say, " Wlio 
are }'ou who dare invade my realm f " 

The quaint barrack building, with its huge 
cliinnieys and gambrel roof, is now occupied 
by several families ; and a whitewashed fence 
encloses a gay garden. The small magazine, 
built of creamy sandstone sent from France 
for the purpose, still remains, and its exces- 
sively sharp roof shows above the ramparts ; 
but the massive oaken door stands open wide 
and is o'reen with ao-e; the roof is decidedlv 
shaky ; and the shingles liang loosely, so 
that one would think that only a moderate 
gale would send them tiying like a pack of 
cards. 

The block-house, built of massive logs and 
heavy planks of English oak, stood within the 
past year by the bridge over the moat ; but, 
unfortunately, a person without reverence for 
antiquities has razed it, thereby obtaining his 



ANNAPOLIS. 63 

winter fuel cheaply ; and lie now turns an hon- 
est penny by selling canes, etc., of the wood. 

When we indignantly ask some of the town's- 
people how they could have permitted this, 
they reply, " Oh, it was getting rotten, and 
would have tumbled down some day ; " but we 
judge, by pieces which we see of the sound, 
tough-fibred oak, tliat it might have stood for 
iifty years more witliout iujury ; while a little 
judicious propping and repairing, perhaps, would 
have preserved it for a longer period than that. 
Poor Annapolitans, who had no Centennial Ex- 
hibition to teach them the value of historical 
relics and " old things " ! 

On the Maine Central Railroad, quite near 
the track at Winslow, we passed, on our way 
here, an old block-house, which is carefully 
presei'ved. 

Not long ago, the Canadian Grovernment re- 
ceived orders that all buildings, except the bar- 
rack and magazine, must be removed from the 
fort enclosure ; yet a garrulous old Scotchman 
still resides there in a tiny house, and plies his 
trade as cobbler. 



64 OVER THE BORDER. 

His delight' is to regale strangers with pre- 
posterous ^' yarns," and accounts of his adven- 
tures in her Majesty's service ; accounts which 
must be taken with considerably more than the 
proverbial grain of salt, but to which we list- 
ened Avith delight and amazingly sober counte- 
nances. When asked how it happens that he 
still remains in the fort grounds, he answers, 
'' I writ out home, to Angland, to say that I 
serrved in the arrumy fur thurty yeer, and I 
knoAv the ould gurrul will let me stay." (There's 
respect for a sovereign !) 

He talks wisely of the "bumpruf," a word 
which we have some difficulty in translating 
into homh proof; and we are, apparently, over- 
powered with wonder as he ex|)lains how '^ with 
a few berrls av pouther they cud send ivery 
thing flying, and desthroy the whole place, 
avery bit av it." 

Presumably misled by our simulated credu- 
lity, he goes on to describe a well in front of 
the magazine, and says, " Wlien they wanted 
to get red av throoblesome preesoners, ploomp 
they 'd go in the watter, and thet was the last 




'• 'I'HE Old BI.OC.C House, Anna.. ous. Destroyed rS82. 
[From a PhotograpJu) 

2. Ancient Akchway jn the Old Fokt, Annai'dl... 



i 



ANNAPOLIS 65 

av 'em ! " Suffice it to say, that tlie oldest 
inhabitant has no recollection of the slightest 
trace of such a well. 

The underground passage has fallen in ; only 
the entrance being now visible and accessible. 
Old Gill says, ^'I was the last man iver in it; 
and I got caught there with the wall fallin' in, 
'and they were twinty fower hours gettin' me 
out ; " (a li[e]kely story !) adding, " Oh, I was 
a divil in them days ! " and " I found in there a 
bit av a goon wrinch" (gun wrench); and Mr. 
So and So, from Halifax, " gev me some money 
fur it, an' he lapped it up in his han'kerchef like 
as if it had ben goold." 

We are told of an ancient house " of the era 
of the French occupation," and go to see it ; but 
learn, though it looks so aged, that it was built 
upon the site of the French house, and is not 
the old original. The owner has reached the 
ripe age of ninety-four, and is a remarkable 
man, with the polished manner of a gentleman 
of the old school. In such a climate as this, 
one would naturally expect to find centenari- 
ans. He tells us many interesting things 



GQ OVER THE BORDER. 

about old times here, and liis grandson brings 
out a barrel of Acadian relics to show us. 

We are interested in noting the differences 
between these ancient implements and those in 
use at the present time ; here is a gridiron, _ 
witli very long handle and four feet (a clumsy 
quadruped), and Ave see in fancy the picture 
of home comfort, as the busy housewife pre- 
pares the noonday meal, where — 

" Firmly builded with rafters of oak, the house of the far- 
mer 

Stood on the side of a hill commanding the sea, and a 
shady 

Sycamore grew by the door, with a woodbine wreathing 
around it." 

Here, too, are ox chains, a curiously shaped 
ploughshare, an odd little spade used in mend- 
ing the dikes and digging clay for bricks, and 
also the long and heavy tongs of the "black- 
smith," — 

" Who was a mighty man in the village and honored of all 
men : 
For since the birth of time, throughout all ages and 

nations 
Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the 
people." 



ANNAPOLIS. 67 

These implements were discovered at French- 
man's Brook on this farm, only three years 
ag-o, and were when found apparently as Ijrig-ht 
and strong as if just placed there. They were 
covered with brush, but a foot or two below 
the surface ; and seem to have been hurriedly 
hidden by the exiles, who, finding- them too 
weighty for conveyance, secreted them, prob- 
ably with the hope of returning sometime. 

What a study for an artist the group would 
have made, as they stood examining the rusty 
iron, and talking of the unhappy people so 
ruthlessly sent into banishment ! For back- 
ground, the quaint, unpainted house, black with 
age, tlie roof of the " lean-to" so steeply slop- 
ing that the eave-trough was on a line with 
the heads of the group. Beyond la}^ the lovely 
valley, with the winding Equille on its serpen- 
tine way to join the greater river ; the ^^'llole 
picture framed in the long range of wooded 
and rugged hills. 

Higginson thinks there has been too much 
sentimentalizing over the fate of the Acadian s ; 
and one member of our party so evidently 



68 OVER THE BOEDER. 

considers that our enthusiasm savors of the 
gushing school-girl, that we are cautious in 
our remarks. But the old man's grandson, 
holding his pretty child on his shoulder, and 
looking across tlie valley to his pleasant dwell- 
ing, says, " Oh, it was cruel to send them away 
from their homes ! " to which all earnestly 
assent. 

Clambering up the hill back of the old house, 
we come upon the site of an ancient French 
church, and commend the taste of- those who 
chose such an admirable location. Here we 
find, to our deliglit, that local tradition has 
buried two fine old bells. Bells ! What a 
charm there is about them I One of the ear- 
liest recollections of our childhood is of a bell, 
which, being harsh and dissonant, so worked 
upon our youthful sensibilities as to cauge par- 
oxysms of tears ; and now in these later years 
we are sure that should some genie set us 
down blindfolded in any place where we had 
ever remained for a time the mere tones of 
the bells would enlighten us as to our where- 
abouts. 



ANNAPOLIS. 69 

" Those eveiiiii^^ bells ! Those evening bells ! 
How many a tale their music tells, 
Of youth and home and that sweet time 
When last I heard their soothing chime." 

After the Port Royal settlement was brok- 
en up by Argall in IGlo, tradition says this 
churcli crumbled away into ruin, and, as the sup- 
porting beams decayed, the bells sank to the 
ground, where, from their own weight and the 
accumulations of Nature's debris, they became 
more and more deeply embedded until lost to 
view. Silver bells, from France, they say. 
Of course! Who ever heard of any ancient 
bells which were not largely composed of that 
metal I It is a pretty myth, however, which we 
adopt with pleasure ; though common sense 
plainly says that silver would soon wear away 
in such use; that the noble patrons of a strug-' 
gling colony in a wild country would not have 
been so extravagant as that ; and that bell metal 
is a composition of copper and tin which has 
been in use from tlie time of Henry III. 

The people of Antwerp have special affec- 
tion for the *' Carolus " of their famous cathe- 



70 OVER THE BORDER. 

dral ; and that bell is actually composed of 
copper, silver, and gold ; but it is now so much 
worn that they are not allowed the privilege of 
hearing it more than once or twice a year. 
"Kings and, nobles have stood beside these 
famous caldrons " (of the bell founders), " and 
looked with reverence on the making of these 
old bells ; nay, they have brought gold and 
silver, and pronouncing the holy name of some 
saint or apostle which the bell was hereafter to 
bear, they have flung in precious metals, rings, 
bracelets, and even bullion." 

Possibly these old bells of Annapolis, the 
secret of whose hiding-place Nature guards so 
well, were made by Van den Glieyn or Hem- 
ony of Belgium, who from 1620 to 1G50 were 
such famous founders that those of their works 
still extant are worth their weight in gold, or 
priceless, and are noted tlie world over for 
their wonderful melody. If so, when they 

" Sprinkled with sounds tlie air, as the priest with his 
hyssop 
Sprinkles the congregatiou and scatters blessing among 
them," 



ANNAPOLIS. 71 

it was no doubt with silvery tone ; and, as it is 
well known that bells sound best when rung 
on a slope or in a valley where there is a lake 
or river, doubtless this wide and lovely stream 
carried the music of the mellow peal, and re- 
turning voyagers heard the welcome notes ; as 
the sailors of the North Sea, on entering the 
Scheldt, strain their cars to catch tlie faint, far 
melody of the chimes of the belfry of Ant- 
werp, visible one hundred and fifty miles away. 

Another day we make an expedition to see 
the Apostle Spoons, and are received, as in- 
variably everywhere, with cordial hospitality. 
These spoons would, I fear, cause the eye of 
an antiquary to gleam covetously. They have 
round, flat bowls about two and a half inclies 
in diameter ; narrow, slender, and straight han- 
dles, terminating, the one with a small turbaned. 
head, the other with a full-length figure about 
one inch long ; the entire length of the handles 
being about four and a half inches. 

In the bowl of one the letters P L I are 
rudely cut ; and on both is stamped something 
which, they say, under magnih^ing glass resem- 



72 OVER THE BORDER. 

bles a King's head. In the spring- of 1874 or 
1875 these were turned up by the plough, in a 
fiehl two miles beyond the town, the discovery 
being made in the neighborhood of the supposed 
site of an old French cluirch. The farmer's 
thrifty housewife was making soap at the time 
the spoons were inieartlied ; and as tliey were 
much discolored, "the old lead things" were 
tossed into the kettle of lye, from whence, to 
her amazement, they came out gold, or, at least, 
silver washed with gold. These spoons, they 
say, Avero used in the service of the church ; but 
it is more likely that they were the property 
of some family, and probable that tliey were 
dropped by their owners — then living' beyond 
the present site of Annapolis — when, at the 
time of the banishment of the Acadians, they 
were hurried away to the ships on tlie Basin of 
Minas. 

An apostle spoon was often a treasured heir- 
loom in families of the better class, and at the 
advent of each scion of the family tree was 
suspended about tlie neck of the infant at bap- 
tism, being supposed to exert some beneficent 
influence. 



ANNAPOLIS. T3 

Especially in the East, about the seventh 
century, we find that a small vessel, or spoon, 
sometimes of gold, was used in the churches. 
These were eucharistic utensils, by means of 
which communicants conveyed the sacred ele- 
ments to the mouth ; but this custom was for- 
bidden and done away with, though probably 
the tradition of such usage suggested the spoon, 
which became general in Greek and most Ori- 
ental churches many years after. The supposi- 
tion is, that in those churches, after tlie wafer 
had been put into the wine in the chalice, the 
spoon was used to dip out such portion as was 
to be reserved for administering the last sac- 
rament to the dying, or to those who were too 
ill to attend the service in the church. In all 
churches of the East, except the Armenian, tlie 
spoon is used in administering the sacrament. 

Curious customs also existed in ancient times 
in reference to baptism. Honey nn'xed with 
milk or with wine was given to the one who 
had just received this rite, to show that he who 
received it, being a newly born child spiritually, 
must not be fed with strong meat, but with 



74 OVER THE BORDER. 

milk. This became a regular part of the ritual, 
and was closely adhered to. The old customs 
of festivals of rejoicing, public thanksgivings, 
wearing of garlands, singing of hymns, and 
giving presents, are well known and familiarly 
associated with baj^tismal festivities. 

The presentation of apostle spoons at christ- 
enings was a very ancient custom in England. 
A wealthy sponsor or relative who could af- 
ford it, gave a complete set of twelve, each 
with the figure of an apostle carved or chased 
on the end of the handle ; while sometimes a 
poor person presented only one, but on that 
was the figure of the saint for whom the child 
was named. Sometimes tliis rudely moulded 
little figure represented the patron saint of 
the sponsor or the donor. In 1666 the cus- 
tom was on the decline. 

An anecdote relating to this usage is told of 
Shakspeare. The latter ''stood godfather" to 
the child of a friend ; and after the ceremo- 
nies of the christening, as the poet seemed 
much absorbed and serious, the father ques- 
tioned him as to the cause of his melancholy. 



ANNAPOLIS. . 75 

The sponsor replied, that lie was considering 
what would be the most suitable gift for him to 
present to his god-child, and that he had finally 
decided. '' I '11 give him," said he, '' a dozen 
good latten spoons, and thou shalt translate 
them." This Avas a play upon the word Latin. 
In the Middle Ages a kind of bronze used for 
church and household utensils was known as 
'^ latten ; " and the same name was applied in 
Shakspeare's time to thin iron plate coated 
witli tin, of which domestic utensils and imple- 
ments were made. 

In Johnson's " Bartholomew Fair " one of 
his characters says, ''And all this for the hope 
of a couple of apostle spoons, and a cup to eat 
caudle in." In a work of Middleton, entitled 
" The Chaste Maid of Cheapside," one of the 
characters inquires, "What has he given her ?" 
to which another replies, " A faire high stand- 
ing cup, and two great 'postle spoons, one of 
them gilt." 

The hat, or flat covering on the head of the 
figure, — that which we call a turban in one 
of these at Annapolis, — was a customary ap- 



76 ovjj:ii THE border. 

pendag-e and usual in apostle spoons ; the inten- 
tion being thereby to j^i'otect the features of 
the tiny heads from wear. Wliatever the liis- 
tory of these at Annapolis, there can be no 
doubt of their genuineness, and, in a perfect 
stiite, they are extremely rare. 

In our antiquarian researches we are natu- 
rally drawn to th(^ ohl cemetery, juljoining the 
fort grounds ; but ](^ani that the oldest graves 
were marked by oaken slabs, which have all 
disappeared, as have also many odd stone ones. 
13ut among those still standing one records tliat 
some one "dyed 1720 ;" another states that the 
body below " is deposited here until the last 
trump ; " and one, wliich nuist be the veritjible 
original of the " aftHctiou sore " rliyme, ends : 
"till death did sieze and God did please to 
ease me ol" my pain." Still another bears this 
epitaph, verhatim ct lifcraliii/ : — 

"Stay rriond stay nor lot, thy hart pniphauo 
Tho hu'"hlo Stoiio that tells you lil'o is vain. 
Hero lyes a yontli in ntotihlring ruin lost 
A blol'soin nipt hy di'atli's untimely frost. 
then prepare to meet with him above 
In realms of everlasting love.'' 



ANNAPOLIS. 77 

The stone-cutter's hand must have been as 
weary when he blundered over the word lunn- 
ble as the poet's brain evidently was when he 
reached the line which limps so lamely to tlie 
conclusion. Near this recently stood a stone, 

" With uncoiitli rliyinos ;ui(l sliiij)cless stuilijturc (Uicked," 

on which the representation of Fatlier Time 
was carved in such peculiar maimer that from 
pose and expression the fig-ure might have 
passed for a lively youth rather than the dread 
reaper, and was irreverently known to the vil- 
lage youths as " Sarah's young- man," a title 
suggested by a popular song of the day. 

In a remote corner we find the tomb of 
''Gregoria Remonia Antonia, " ''a native of 
Spain ; " and afterwards learn her story, — an 
episode in the life of the Iron Duke which 
does not do him honor. Did la gramh (/amc, 
the Duchess, ever know of the fair foreigner 
who supplanted her, the dame o' high degree, 
in her husband's affection I Did the beautiful 
Si)anish maiden dream, when the brilliant Eng- 
lish General wooed her, that he was doing 



78 , OVER THE BORDER. 

her and miother wom.iu the greatest wrong ? 
Little did the fasciiintino- Spaniard think that 
the so-called " nobleman " wonld compel her to 
marry anotlier; nnd that other a rongh, illiter- 
ate man, ^vlu) wouhl bring her to this wild, 
strange, far-away conntry, and that here she 
shonld be laid to rest "after life's fitful fever." 
Is it to be wondered nt that her fierv Sontli- 
ern s})irit rebelled, that her wrongs embittered 
her, and that lier life liero was unhappy I 

To add to the romance, one who attended 
her in her last illness tells us that when the 
garrison gave a ball, the slender little Spanish 
lady loaned or gave "pretty fixins" to the 
young girls to wear, and appeared herself in 
rich silks and plumes ; that slie gave to her 
attendant in that illness a. wonderful box " all 
done off with, — well — this here plated stuff, 
you know; " and that Avlien tlie end was drajv- 
ing near, the faint, weak voice, witli its broken 
English (at best so, difficult to nnderstand), tried 
to make "Char-loet-tah " comprehend where 
she must look for something hidden away 
which she wished her nurse to have in recog- 



ANNAPOLIS. 70 

nition of Iier services. But alas ! tlie hoarded 
treasure was not found until numtlis after the 
poor soul was gone, and then fell into the very 
hands which the sad alien had most desired 
should not touch it. 

The old adage about a sailor's right to have 
''a sweetheart in every port" is still cited in 
these days of boasted advanceujent in culture, 
religion, morals ; and it is the same old world 
to-day as that which lauded and bowed down 
to him whom it called 'Miis Grace" (despite 
what we consider his grace-less actions); tlie 
same world, alas ! ignoring the open and evi- 
dent fact when he steps aside from the narrow 
path of honor and rectitude ; while, should she 
SAverve in the least, pouring out meroilcssly its 
harshest taunts, or overwhelming her with piti- 
less scorn. This, because woman should hold 
an exalted position, and ''be above suspicion" ? 
Then why do not the so-called "lords of crea- 
tion," as they might and ought, set an example 
of noble uprightness to "the weaker vessel," 
guiding, guarding, upholding her through " the 
shards and thorns of existence " ? 



80 OVER THE BORDER. 

The Spanish girl, left an orphan by the wars 
in which the dashing and gallant English offi- 
cer figured so proiidly, fell to the care of two 
aunts, who, belonging to that indolent, pleasure- 
loving race of sunny Spain, perhaps left the 
poor girl too much to her own devices, and 
thus she may have been more easily beguiled. 

" Look here, upon this picture, and on this : " 
first, the gay little seiiorita, holding daintily 
in her tapering fingers a cigarette, which she 
occasionally raises to her '^ ri])e red lips," after- 
wards languidly following witli her lustrous 
black eyes the blue wreaths of smoke as they 
float above her head and vanish in the air ; next, 
the withered crone, with silver hair, wrinkled 
skin, and no trace of her early beauty, sitting 
in the chimney corner, and still smoking, 
though now it is a clay pipe, — to the amaze- 
ment and disgust of the villagers. Yet we, 
believing in the only correct interpretation of 
noblesse oblige, and that he only is truly noble 
who acts nobly, have only pity for the poor soul 
who here laid down life's weary burden twenty- 
two years ago at the age of seventy-two, and 



ANNAPOLIS. 81 

scorn for liim who rests in an honored grave, 
and is idealized among- the world's heroes. 
, How amusing it is to hear the j^eople speak 
of us invariably as '' Americans," as if we were 
from some far-away and foreign country, and 
to hear them talk of England as '' home" ! 

The hearty cordiality, natural manner, and 
pleasantly unworldly ways of the people are 
most refreshing ; in " a world of hollow shams, " 
to find persons who are so genuine is deliglitful ; 
and thus another charm is added to give greater 
zest to our enjoyment. 

One, half in jest, asks a Halif^ix gentleman how 
they would like to be annexed to the United 
States, and is quite surprised at his ready and 
earnest reply: '^ Annexed? Oh, yes, we'd be 
glad to be ; . . . we would n't come with empty 
hands; we have what you want, — fisheries, 
lumber, minerals ; we 'd not come as paupers 
and mendicants. ... It will come, though it 
may not be in our day. . . . The United States 
w^ould not wish to purchase, — she has done 
enough of that : we would have to come of our 
own free will ; and we woidd, too ! " 

9 



82 OVER 'THE BORDER. 

Then there is the elderly Scotch gentleman, 
who appropriately hails from the place with the 
outlandish name of Musquodoboit. He tells ns 
that during the " airly pairt " of his residence 
in America he visited in the States, and that he 
has seen " fower Preesidents" inaugurated. 

Of his first attendance at such a ceremony 
he says : "An' whan I see thet mon, in lies plain 
blek coat, coomin' out amang all o' thim poople, 
an' all the deegnetirries in their blek coats tu, 
an' not a uniforrum amoong thim, I said, ' This 
is the coontry fur me,' — it suited my taste. 
An' how deeferint it wud be in Yerrup, where 
there wud be tin thausind mooskits aboot, to 
kep 'im from bein' shot." 

On our way here we were told : " Oh, you '11 
find Annapolis hot ! " It might perhaps seem 
so to a Newfoundlander ; but to us the climate 
is a daily source of remark, of wonder and 
delight. It is balmy, yet bracing ; and though 
there may be times when at midday it is 
decidedly warm, — as summer should be, — the 
nights are always cool, and we live in flannel 
costumes and luxuriate. 



ANNAPOLIS. 83 

Warner speaks of '' these northeastern lands 
wliich the Gulf Stream pets and tempers ; " yet 
ho passed through this dear old town without 
stopping-, remarking- only that he could not be 
content for a week here, and felt no interest in 
the place apart from its historic associations. 
Let him stop next time and investigate. AVe 
flatter ourselves that we could enlig-hten him 
someAvhat. 

Our friends at various shore and mountain 
resorts report constant fogs ; yet we can testify 
that in nearly seven weeks' residence here there 
were but two mornings which were foggy, and 
on those days the gray screen was rolled away 

at noon. 

" aloft on the mountains 
Sea-fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty 

Atlantic 
Looked on the hapi)y valley, but ne'er from their station 

descended." 

That singular feature spoken of in Longfel- 
low's poem is shown here : the mists rise from 
the Bay and rest lovingly, caressingly, on the 
crests of the long range of mountains, giving 
them, the appearance of comfortable warmth 



84 OVER THE BORDER. 

under this downy coverlet on cool nights ; but 
this fleece very rarely descends to the valley. 

Dr. 0. W. Holmes must have had such a 
place as this in mind when he said : — 

" And silence like a poultice came 
To heal the blows of sound ; " 

and surely tympanums most bruised by the 
world's clangor and jar could not fail here to 
be soothed and healed ; and the writer of ^' Oh, 
where shall rest be found 1 " would have re- 
ceived answer to his- query here also. The 
quiet is astonishing : there are no farm sounds 
even ; and, though the hours pass so pleasantly 
that we " take no note of time," we can tell 
when Saturday comes, for then numbers of 
log-laden ox-carts plod slowly into the village 
from the back country. 

The bells on the animals' necks tinkle j^re- 
cisely like the sound of ice when carried in a 
pitcher of water ; and consequently do not jar 
upon one's ear in this quietude as the clank- 
ing herd-bells which we hear in some farming 
regions of the States. 



ANNAPOLIS. 85 

At night the only break in the profound still- 
ness is when the tide is ebbing, and the Equille 
can be heard rushing under the bridge a quar- 
ter of a mile away. We cannot discover the 
meaning of that word, and so consult a foreign 
relative, who tells us that at Dinard, in France, 
they catch the equille, — a small fish, also called 
a lan^on, because it darts in and out of the sand, 
and in its movements is something like an eel. 

That certainly describes this peculiar stream, 
for surely it would be difficult to find one with 
a more circuitous course. It forms two horse- 
shoes and an ox-bow connected, as we see it 
from our windows ; and when the tide is out 
diminishes to a rivulet about two feet in width. 
At flood it is more than twice the width of the 
Wissahickon, and wlien the high tides of August 
come its magnitude is surprising. 

Then we understand why the hay-ricks 
(which we wickedly tell our friends from the 
'^ Hub " resemble gigantic loaves of Boston 
brown bread) are on stilts ; for, regardless of 
dikes or boundaries, this tortuous creek spreads 
over its whole valley, as if in emulation of the 



8G OVER THE BORDER. 

greater river of wliicli it is a tributary. Hali- 
biirton says that for a time this was called 
Allan's Kiver, and the greater one was named 
the Danphin ; but wo are glad that the old 
French iiame was restored to the serpentine 
creek, as it is so much better saited to its 
peculiar character. 

The great event of the week is the arrival of 
the Boston steamer, when all the town turns 
out and wends its way to the wharves. 

The peculiar rise of the tide (thirty feet) is 
here plainly sliown, as one week the passengers 
step off from the very roof of the saloon, and 
next time she comes in the}' disembark from 
the lowest gangway possible and climb the long 
ascent of slipper}' planks to the level above. 

The river shows curious ciirrents and coun- 
ter-currents, as bits of debris are hurrying up- 
ward in the middle of the stream, while similar 
flotsam and jetsam rush away as rapidly down 
stream along both shores. 

The queer old tub of a ferry-boat, with its 
triangular wings spreading at the sides, — used 
as guards and " gang planks," — is a curiosity, 



ANNAPOLIS. 87 

as it zigzags across the powerful current to the 
village on the opposite shore. 

But '' the ferryman 's slim, the ferryman 's 
young, and he 's just a soft twang in the tnrn 
of his tongue ; " and in our frequent trips across 
he probably makes a mental note when he hears 
us lamenting that we cannot get lobsters, for 
one day he sends to our abiding place four 
fine large ones, and will not receive a cent in 
rennineration. 

Another time, when waiting for the farmer's 
sou to guide us to the '* ice mine," — a ravine 
in the mountains where ice remains throuoh 
the summer, — a delicious lunch, consisting of 
fresh bread, sweet milk, and cake, is unex})ect- 
edly set before us, and the generous ftxrmer's 
wife will not listen to recompense. 

A modern writer says: *' A great part of the 
enjoyment of life is in the knowledge that there 
are people living in a worse place than that you 
inhabit ; " but it does not add to our hapi^iness 
to thiidv of those who could not come to this 
lovely spot ; and we commiserate the Can't-get- 
away Club of the cities. 



88 OVER THE BORDER. 

We would not chang-e places with any of the 
dwellers at the fashionable resorts at sj^rings, 
sea, or mountains, — no, indeed ! though they 
no doubt w^ould elevate their noses, and set 
this place down at once as '' deadly dull," or 
" two awfully slow for anything ! " 

Doubtless those also of our friends to whom 
we tell the plain, unvarnished truth, if they 
come here will be disappointed, as they will 
not see with our eyes. On^e cannot expect the 
luxuries of palatial hotels at five dollars per 
day ; such would be out of place here. 

At our abiding place, Mdiich looks like a 
gentleman's residence, and is, as one of the 
Halifax guests says, "not a bit like an 'otel," 
there is an extensive garden, from which we 
are regaled with choice fresh vegetables daily ; 
and we have such home-made butter ! (The bill 
of fare "to be issued in our next "). A French- 
man might think that "we return to our mut- 
tons " frequently ; still, as that viand suggests 
at least the famous English Southdown in excel- 
lence, we are resigned. 

A noted wit has said : " Doubtless God might 



ANNAPOLIS. 89 

have made a better berry than the strawberry, 
but doubtless God never did ; " and if one is so 
fortunate as to come to this country in proper 
season he can feast on that delectable fruit in 
its perfection, — that is, the wild fruit, so much 
more delicious and delicate in flavor than after 
its boasted " improvement " by cultivation. If 
one arrives before the close of the fisheries, salm- 
on, fit for a royal banquet, g-races the table ; 
while even in July and August he may enjoy 
shad ; and strange enough it seems to Philadel- 
phians to be eating that fish at such time of year. 

There are in the town a number of inns, and 
summer guests are also made welcome and com- 
fortable in many of the private residences. In 
one of the latter — a large old-fashioned house, 
with antique furniture — three sisters reside, 
who possess the quiet dignity and manner of 
the old school ; and here one would feel as if 
visiting at one's grandfather's, and be made 
pleasantly *' at home." 

We are surprised to find tliat this old town 
has generally such modern and New-England- 
ish aspect ; and are told that it has twice been 



90 OVER THE BORDER. 

nearly destroyed by fire, even in modern times ; 
therefore but few of the quaint buiklings remain. 
Some of these are picturesque and interesting, 
the one combining jail and court-house being a 
feature of the main street. The window of one 
of the cells faces the street ; and the prisoner's 
friends sit on the steps without, whiling away 
the tedium of incarceration with their converse. 

The oldest dwelling in the town stands on 
St. George's Street, nearly opposite the old- 
fashioned inn known as the Foster House. Its 
walls were originally made of mud from the 
flats, held together by the wiry marsli grass, 
which, being dried, was mixed in the sticky 
substance as hair is in plaster ; but as these 
walls gave way from the effects of time the 
seams and cracks were plastered up, and by 
degrees boarded over, until now the original 
shows only in one part of the interior. 

The houses throughout this region are almost 
invariably without blinds or outside shutters, 
and consequently look oddly to us, who are 
inclined to screen ourselves too much from "the 
blessed sunshine." Bay windows are popular. 



ANNAPOLIS. 91 

We saw one small house Avitli four double and 
two single ones, giving- it an air of impertinent 
curiosity, as the dwellers therein could look 
out from every possible direction. The ancient 
dormer windows on the roofs have given place 
to these queer bulging ones, which, in Halifax 
especially, are set three in a row on the gray 
shingles, and bear ludicrous resemblance to 
gigantic bee-hives. 

In some of the shops, at the post-office and 
railroad station, our money is taken at a small 
discount ; but in many of the shops they allow 
us full value for it. In one the proprietor tells 
us of the sensation caused here once by the 
failure of a Canadian bank, and the surprise of 
the to wn's-people — whose faith seemed shaken 
in all such institutions — when he continued to 
take United States bank-bills. He says: ''I 
told 'em the United States Government had n't 
failed, that I believed in it yet, would take all 
their money I could get, and be glad to have it, 
too ! " 

To continue ihe impression of being in a for- 
eign land, we must attend service at the five or 



112 



<)\j:/{ 'I'm: lumnhiii. 



six (lirrcrcnl, ('liiircli(»«, ;iii(l lusir llid |)r;iy('rs loi' 
IIk^ (^)ii<'(iii ;iii(I lu»y;il I*\-iinily. In IIki lirsj, 
j)liic(^ ol" worsliip, \vli(M-(i lli(i (>cl;i,\(» JUif^iiuviilH 
tlu^ (•(mnTOj^-jiiloii, Vi('lori;i ;ni(l in.'Uiy ol' licr 
riui)iiy ;ii'() iiK'iilioiKMl 1>)' I'lill ikiiiki ;in(l lillc, 
ill sonorous .ind ni(>;isnr(>(I tones; in IIk^ iicxI, 
\\\v p.'isior speaks of ''Our Son crcij^ii, and (liosc^ 
IIU(I(M' Ikm' and owr us ; " in anollier 'M)iii- 
(,^)ii(HUi " is simply rcifcu'inMl to; and scuno unnis- 
t(M'S ANdio ai'o sns])(H'l(i(l of Iteinj*' tincluiUMl wlili. 
i'(*pnldi('anisni soniellines lor<^<i|, j,o inak(^ any 
spiM-ial allnsion lo Ikm* Maj^^sly. 

In our Nvalks up IIk^ main sliHMd, wliicli is 
nol rt>mai-kaldy busllinjn" or busy, U(^ see lono- 
i-oNNs of i^iH^al; (dd lunvtliorn hiislics l)ord(M-- 
in^" iIh^ road, and !^'i\ino- (piilo an Mn;.';lisli 
toiudi to llio sceiu^; and en (M-\ \vlier(> oionnlic, 
n])))l(^-lr(H>s, \vln(di \vould delij^ld an arlisi, so 
d(di('Ionsl\ i^uar-Jed and crooktMl ar(> llie\'. 

1 am n(»l awart^ iliai astrouom)' is a. liivoi'ito 
slu(U will) llio inliabilants, but 1im,V(> no donbl 
llial c'xit'ycal ol)S(M'^'aliollS are ])opulai- al, vcv~ 
lain seasons, — as lliis conidrN- is a. lanioiis 
apple- i;roNvinn' disliiel, and (hat iViiII. is sent 



ANNAl'OIJS. 93 

from licro to Finn-buid ;ni(I llio States in v;isl. 
(|iiinititi(\s. ()ct;ivius siiys, "II" yon would 
know wliat {uni-jipol-is, yon slionld conu! Iicrc* 
in tlio full," bnt is at o^n'v. IVowncd down l)y 
tlio otlun* seven for tliis nlroclly. 

'^J^lio valleys of AniinjMdis ;ind ( -oi-nwallis 
yield ;m }iv(a'a«»'o crop of two linndiHMl llionsniid 
bariHils of jij)|)l('s. Denlers in IJnn^or who j)ai(l 
$7 ])(^r hnrnd in Boston for lliis IVnit, have 
afterwards Ixumi elni^rincMl on discovering- that 
it came from Aini;i|)olis ori;j;inM,lly, and tlwit 
they conld have procnreil ihe Siinu^ from llint 
place direct Jit $2.25 to $3 pur barrel. 

Very lovely is tla; vi(!w from m, hill ont- 
side the villii|»'e, and thei'e ;ilso is the Wishin;^ 
Kock, — one of the most noted objects (d' in- 
terest, as a fi^uide-book Avoiild term it. "They 
say" that if one cini rnn !(► tli(i top without 
assistance, or lonchin},'' th<i i*ock with the li;in<ls, 
tluui whjitever one wishes will "conici Inie." 
This feat it is nlmost imj)ossible to accomplish, 
as the stone has been woi'n smooth by connt- 
loss feet before ours; still the youthful juid 
fi'isky members of our party must attempt the 



94 OVER THE BORDER. 

ascent, Mdtli a run, a rush,, and a sliout, while 
the elders look on, smilmg benignly. 

The dikes of L'Equille form a peculiar but 
pleasant promenade ; and along that narrow, 
circuitous path we frequently wander at sun- 
set. These embankments remain, in great part, 
as originally built by the Acadians, and are 
formed of rubbish, brush, and river mud, over 
which sods are closely packed, and for most 
of the season they are covered with tall waving 
grass. This primitive sea-wall is six or eight 
feet in width at the base, and only about one 
foot wide at the top, so it is necessary for him 
"who standeth" to "take heed lest he fall;" 
otherwise his enthusiasm over the beauties of 
the prospect may receive a damper from a 
sudden plunge into the Avater below. 

There is a fine new rink in the village ; and 
in the mornings those of us who are novices in 
the use of rollers have a quiet opportunity to 
practise and disport ourselves with the grace 
of — a bureau, or other clumsy piece of furni- 
ture on wheels ! 

Then we go to the wharves to witness the 



ANNAPOLIS. 95 

laclino;' of lumber vessels. Some of the losfs 
floating in the water are so huge as to attest 
that there are vast and aged forests somewhere 
in her Majesty's domains in America ; and the 
lumbermen, attired in rough corduroy, red 
shirts, and big boots, balance themselves skil- 
fully on some of the slippery trunks, while 
with pole and boat-hook propelling other great 
ones to the gaping mouths in the bow of the 
vessel. Then horse, rope, pulley, and windlass 
are brought into play to draw the log into the 
hold and place it properly among other mon- 
archs of the forest, thus ignominiously laid low, 
and become what " Mantalini " would style ''a 
damp, moist, un23leasant lot." From the wharf 
above we look down into the hold, and, seeing 
this black, slimy, muddy cargo, say regretfully, 
" How are the mighty fallen ! " as we think of 
the grand forests of which these trees were 
once the pride and glory, but of which ruth- 
less man is so rapidly despoiling poor Mother 
Earth. 

We have brought with us those aids to indo- 
lence which a tiny friend of ours calls 'Miang- 



96 OVER THE BORDER. 

ujDS," expecting to swing tliem in the woods 
and inliale the odors of pine ; but the woods 
are too far away ; so we are fain to sit under a 
small group of those trees at the end of the 
garden and gaze upon the peaceful valley. 

" There in the tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly 
the sunset 
Lighteth the village street, and gildeth the vanes on the 
chimneys," 

we sit, when 

" Day with its burden and heat has departed, and twilight 
descending 
Brings back the evening star to the sky, and the herds to 
the homestead." 

There we sit and talk of the romantic story, 
comparing notes as to our ideal of the heroine ; 
and such is the influence of the air of senti- 
ment and poetry pervading this region, that we 
decide that Boughton's representation of her, 

" When in the harvest heat she bore to the reapers at noon- 
tide 

Flagons of home-brewed ale, . . . 

Nut-brown ale, that was famed for its strength in the vil- 
lage of Grand Pre," 



c 








ANNAPOLIS. 97 

is too sturdy, as with masculine stride she 
marches a-field ; and that Constant Meyer's 
ideal more nearly approaches ours. The one 
depicts her in rather Puritanic attire; the 
other, studying authentic, costume, they say, 
shows her 

"Wearing her N'orman.cap, and her kirtle of bhie, and the 
ear-rings, 
Brouglit in tlie olden time from France, and since, as an 
heirloom 
, Handed down from mother to child, through long genera- 
tions ; " 

and seated by the roadside, as, 

" with God's benediction upon her, 

... a celestial brightness — a more ethereal beauty 

Shone on her face and encircled her form." 

All along the roads we notice a delicate 
white blossom, resembling the English prim- 
rose in shape, and one day ask an intelliirent- 
lookmg girl whom we meet what it is called ; 
she does not know the name, but says the seed 
was accidentally brought from England many 
years ago, and the plant 'Mias since become 
quite a pest," — which we can hardly under- 



98 OVER THE BORDER. 

stand as we enjoy its grace and beauty. We 
notice that our pleasant informant follows a 
pretty fashion of other belles of the village, — 
a fashion which suits their clear complexions 
and bright faces ; that is, wearing a gauzy 
white scarf around the hat, and in the dainty 
folds a cluster of fresh garden flowers. 

The artist Boughton says: "The impres- 
sionist is a good antidote against the illusionist, 
who sees too much, and then adds to it a lot 
that he does not see." If he had ever visited 
this place we wonder what his idea would be 
of this quaint poem, supposed to have been 
written in 1720, which we have unearthed. 

We have acquired quite an affection for this 
pleasant old town, and shall be loath to leave. 
If our friends think we are too enthusiastic, we 
shall refer them to this old writer to prove that 
we have not said all that we might ; as he 
indulges in such airy flights of fancy and such 
extravagant praise. 

His description would lead one to expect to 
see a river as great as the Mississippi, and 
mountains resembling the Alps in height. 



ANNAPOLIS. 99 

whereas in reality it is a quiet and not ex- 
traordinary tliongli most pleasing landscape 
which here ''delights the eye." 

ANNAPOLIS-ROYAL. 

The King of Rivers, folemn calm and flow, 

Flows tow'rd the Sea yet fcarce is feen to flow ; 

On each fair Bank, the verdant Lands are feen, 

In gayeft Cloathing of perpetual Green ; 

On ev'ry Side, the Profpedl brings to Sight 

The Fiehls, the Flow'rs, and ev'ry frefh Delight : 

His lovely Banks, mod beauteoufly are grac'd 

With Nature's fweet variety of Tafte. 

Herbs, Fruits and Grafs, with intermingled Trees 

The Profpedl lengthen, and the Joys inereafe : 

The lofty Mountains rife to ev'ry View, 

Creation's Glory, and its Beauty too. 

To higher Grounds, the raptur'd View extends, 

Whilfl in the Cloutl-top'd Cliffs the Landfcape ends. 

Fair Scenes ! to which fhould Angels turn their Sight ; 

Angels might fland aflonifli'd with Delight. 

Majeflic Groves in ev'ry View arife 

And greet with AVonder the Beholders' Eyes. 

In gentle Windings where this River glides. 

And Herbage thick its Current almoft hides ; 

Where fweet Meanders lead his pleafant Courfe, 

Where Trees and Plants and Fruits themfelves difclofe ; 

Where never-fading Groves of fragrant Fir 

And beauteous Pine perfume the ambient Air ; 



100 OVER THE BORDER. 

The air, at once, both Health and Fragrance yields, 
Like fweet Arabian or Elyfian Fields. 
Thou Royal Settlement ! he waflies Thee ; 
Thou Village, bleft of Heav'n and dear to me : 
ISTam'd from a pious Sov'reign, now at Reft, 
The laft of Stuart's Line, of Queens the beft. 

Amidft the rural Joys, the Town is feen, 
Enclof d with Woods and Hills, forever green : 
The Streets, the Buildings, Gardens, all concert 
To pleafe the Eye, to gratify the Heart. 
But none of thefe fo pleafing or fo fair, 
As thofe bright Maidens, who inhabit there. 

Your potent Charms fair Ifymphs, my verfe infpire, 
Your Charms fupply the chafte poetic Fire. 
Could thefe my Strains, but live, when I 'm no more, 
On futiire Fame's bright wings, your names ftiould foar. 

Where this romantic Village lifts her Head, 
Betwixt the Royal Port and humble Mead ; 
The decent Manfions, deck'd with mod'rate coft, 
Of honeft Thrift, and gen'rous Owners boaft ; 
Their Skill and Induftry their Sous employ, 
In works of Peace, Integrity and Joy. 
Their Lives in Social, harmlefs Blifs, they fpend. 
Then to the Grave, in honor'd Age defcend. 
The hoary Sire and aged Matron fee 
Their profp'rous Offfpring to the fourth Degree : 
With Grief fuicere, the blooming offfpring clofe 
Their Parent's Eyes, and pay their D.ebt of Woes ; 
Then hafte to honeft, joyous Marriage Bands, 
A newborn Race is rear'd by careful Hands : 
Thro' num'rous Ages thus they '11 happy move 
In a6live Buf nefs, and in chafteft Love. 



ANNAPOLIS. 101 

The Nymphs and Swaius appear in Streets and Bowers 
As morning frefh, as lovely as the Flowers, 
As bright as Phoebus, Ruler of the Day, 
Prudent as Pallas, and as Flora gay. 

A Spire majellic rears its folemn Vane, 
Where Praifes, Pray'r and true Devotion reign ; 
Where Truth and Peace and Charity abound, 
Where God is fought, and heav'nly Bleffings found. 
The gen'rous Flock reward their Pallor's care, 
His Pray'rs, his Wants, his Happinefs tliey fhare. 
Retir'd from worldly Care, from Noife and Strife, 
In facred Thoughts and Deeds, he fpends his Life ; 
To mo'drate Bounds, his Wifhes he confines, 
All views of Grandeur, Pow'r and Wealth refigns ; 
With Pomp and Pride can chearfully difpenfe 
Dead to the World, and empty Joys of Senfe, 
The Symphony of heav'idy Song he hears, 
Celeftial Concord vibrates on his Ears, 
Which emulates the IMufic of the Spheres. 
The Band of a6live Youths and Virgins fair, 
Rank'd in due Order, by their Teacher's Care, 
The Sight of all Beholders gratify, 
Sweet to the Soul, and pleafing to the Eye, 
But when their Voices found in Songs of Praife, 
When they to God's high Throne their Anthems raife, 
By thefe harmonious Sounds fuch Rapture's giv'n, 
Their loud Hofannas waft the Soul to Heav'n : 
The fourfold Parts in one bright Center meet. 
To form the bleffed Harmony complete. 
Lov'd by the Good, efteemed by the Wife, 
To gracious Heav'n, a pleafing facritice. 



102 OVER THE BORDER. 

Each Note, each Part, eacli Voice, eacli Word confpire 
T' inllaine all pious Hearts with holy Fire ; 
Each one in Fancy feenis among the Throng 
Of Angels, chanting Heav'n's eternal Song. 

Hail Mufic, Foreta(l(! of celcflial Joy ! 
Tluit always fatiafls, yet canlt never cloy : 
Vaxq\\ pure, refin'd, extatic Pleafure's thine, 
Thou ra^ifrous Science ! Harmony divine ! 

May each kind Wifh of ev'ry virtuous Heart 
Be giv'n to all, who teach, or learn thine Art : 
May all the Wife, and all the Good unite, 
With all the Habitants of Life and Light, 
To treat the Sons of Mufic with Refpe6l, 
Their Progrefs to encourage and protc6t. 
May each Mufician, and Mufician's Friend 
Attain to Hymns divine, which never end." 

Bein<>" a musical company, the Octave accept 
this peroration without criticism, and do not 
seem to consider it an extravagant rhapsody, 
tlioug-li tliey are so daring as to take exception 
to otlier parts of tlie queer ohl })oem. 

As we liave come liere for i-est, we are not 
disturbed at finding that trains, etc., are not 
always strictly " on time." We are summoned 
at 7.15 A.M., but breakfast is not served for 
more than an hour after; we engage a carriage 
for two o'clock, and perhaps in the neiglibor- 



ANNAPOLIS. 103 

liood of tliroe see it driving up in a leisurely 
manner. The people are wise, and do not 
wear themselves out with unnecessary rusli 
and hurry, as we do in the States. The train 
advertised to start for Halifax at 2 p.m. more 
frequently leaves at 8, or 3.30; but tlien it 
has to wait the arrival of the steamboat which, 
four times per week, comes across from St. 
John. The express train requires six liours 
to traverse tlie miles intervening between this 
quiet village and that not nuicli livelier town, 
while for the accommodation train they allow 
ten Jiours ; but when one comes to see beau- 
tiful country one does not wish to have the 
breath taken aAvay by travelling at break-neck 
speed. 

We know that some of our party are capable 
of raising a breeze, and we are on a gal(e)a 
time anyhow ; still, tliis is a remarkably breeze- 
place, the wind rising with the tide, so we un- 
derstand why there are so few flowers in tlie 
gardens, — the poor blossoms would soon be 
torn to pieces ; but the windows of the houses 
generally are crowded with thriving plants gay 



104 OVER THE BORDER. 

with bloom, giving most clieeiy effect as one 
strolls about the town. 

In our excursion to the Bay Shore we halt to 
water the horses at a neat little cottage on the 
summit of the North Mountain, and even here 
the little garden (protected from the winds by 
a fence) is all aflame with a wonderful variety 
of large double and gorgeous poppies. From 
this point, also, we have our first view of the 
wide Bay, shimmering in the hazy sunlight far 
below, and can faintly trace the rugged hills of 
New Brunswick in the distance. 

Rapidly descending, we follow the coast for 
several miles, finally stopping at a lonely house 
on the rocky and barren shore, — such a wild 
spot as a novelist would choose to represent a 
smuggler's retreat ; but the family would not 
answer his purpose in that respect, for they are 
homely and hospitable, agreeing at once to pro- 
vide stabling for our horses and to sell us some 
milk for our lunch. They drop their net-mend- 
ing, come out en masse, and, on learning that 
some of us are from Philadelphia, greet us like 
old friends, because their eldest daughter is 



ANNAPOLIS. 105 

living in that distant city. The best pitcher 
is brought out for our use, the whole establish- 
ment placed at our disposal, and, finding that 
we will be so insane as to prefer to picnic 
under the few straggling pines by the water 
instead of using their dining-room, several 
march ahead to show the way to the rocky 
point; and Ave form a long and, of course, 
imposing procession. 

As we gaze along this barren and lonely 
shore, Octavia exclaims, '' Imagine the amaze- 
ment of De Monts when he sailed alono- this 
u'on-bound coast and suddenly came upon that 
wonderful gateway which leads into the beau- 
tiful Annapolis Basin and the fertile, lovely 
region beyond ! " and we all agree that it is 
a shame that the embouchure should now be 
known by the vulgar title, Digby Gut, instead 
of its old cognomen, St. George's Channel. 
"Why couldn't they call it the Gap or the 
Gate ! " one exclaims ; '' that would n't be quite 
so dreadful." 

One evening some of our jileasant acquaint- 
ances in the town come to take us to Lake La 



106 OVER THE BORDER. 

Rose, away up on the South Mountain ; and 
there we embark and glide over the placid 
water in the moonlight, rousing the echoes 
with song, and vainly endeavoring to uproot 
the coy lilies, which abruptly slip through our 
fingers, and " bob " down under the water as 
if enjoying our discomfiture. But as Dame 
Nature tries her hand at painting in water- 
colors, treating us to a series of dissolving 
views, the shower forces us to hurry back to 
the village again. 

Before leaving this " vale of rest," we must 
see the widely extended panorama from the 
Mackenzie road, where hills beyond hills stretch 
away to the horizon, and the lovely valley 
spreads itself like a map below. The bird's- 
eye view from Parker's Mountain must also be 
seen, and many other excursions accomplished. 
The old cannon of Lower Granville also is 
" one of the sights." This ancient piece of 
ordnance was fired in old times to notify the 
quiet country folk when news was received 
from England. At such times relays, seven to 
ten miles apart, mounted in hot haste and car- 



ANNAPOLIS. 107 

riecl the messages on until Digby was reached ; 
and from thence a vessel conveyed the news to 
Boston. 

As we are talking of all we have seen in this 
region, and of our various enjoyments, Octavia 
exclaims, '' Some persons thouglit we could 
.not be content here for a week ; yet more than 
six have slipped away, and I 'm sure I don't 
want to go ! I shall tell my friends that though 
we are ' remote,' the rest of the quotation does 
not apply, for we are neitlier ' unfriended,' 
' melancholy,' nor ' slow ! ' " 

How often has it been our fate, wlien among 
the mountains of New Hampshire, to see the 
grand ranges, disappearing behind a thick cur- 
tain of smoke, wliicli, daily growino- denser, 
at last almost completely blots out Nature's 
pictures, so there is no use in undertaking 
excursions for the sake of fine views. The 
explanation is invariably " fires in the Canada 
woods ; " and here, in this '' cool, sequestered 
vale," we have an opportunity of seeing forest 
fires before we take our departure for otlier 
fields of observation. After sunset we are ap- 



108 OVER THE BORDER. 

parently almost surrounded by volcanoes, as the 
lurid flames leap up into the deepening black- 
ness of the night ; and when we lovers of Na- 
ture, distressed afterwards by seeing vast tracts 
all scarred and desolate, exclaim, " Why did n't 
they stop it I Why did they allow it ? " echo 
answers, '' Why % " 

One day we learn that a mill on L'Equille 
is threatened, and expect that there will be 
some excitement ; but a very old-fashioned fire- 
engine, with clumsy hand-power pumps, goes 
lumbering by, followed by men and boys, who 
walk in a leisurely and composed manner. The 
mill is saved by some means, however ; and we 
rejoice, as it is, so to speak, historical, standing 
in a place favored for such purposes since 
Lescarbot's time; even Argall (in 1613), when 
demolishing other buildings of the village, hav- 
ing spared the mill which occupied the site of 
the present one. 

In our various wanderings we visit the Indian 
settlement at the head of this crooked stream, 
but find its residents too civilized to be very 
picturesque. We are interested in learning what 



ANNAPOLIS. 109 

the Canadian Government does for their welfare, 
and wish a similar policy could be instituted in 
the States. Here, as with us, liquor is their 
curse. The once famous chief of the Micmacs 
lives at Bear River, and is addicted to the bot- 
tle. One day a young girl, who was a summer 
guest at this place, sat down on an overturned 
canoe which this chief (now known as James 
Mouse) had just completed ; and, as the bark 
bent with her weight, the wily Indian pretended 
that the boat was irretrievably ruined. The 
girl's father, asking what amount would com- 
pensate for the damage, received reply, " Ten, 
twenty, dollar ; " and receiving thirty dollars 
from the generous stranger. Redskin remarked 
afterwards that he '' wished more girl come sit 
on boat," and probably turned the money into 
liquid fire, and poured it down his throat in a 
short space of time. As there is a heavy fine 
for selling liquor to Indians, one of that race 
will never divulge from whom he has received 
it, however intoxicated he may be. 

Another Indian sachem noted in history — 
Membertou — lived to the age of one hundred 



110 OVER THE BORDER. 

and four, and was buried at Annapolis, then 
Port Royal, with military honors, as befitted 
the companion of soldiers. At Poutrincourt's 
table he was a daily and honored guest in that 
olden time, and, when the " Order of Happy 
Times " was instituted there, of course became 
a member too ! Query : Did that ancient con- 
vivial society offer suggestions to the famous 
old '' State in Schuylkill Chib " of Philadelphia 
when they were organizing so many years 
after ? 



DIGBY. 



DIOBY. 

In the drive to Digby, twenty-one miles, we 
pass along all the ins and outs of the shore of 
Annapolis Basin, finding the succession of views 
on that curiously land-locked harbor a perfect 
study and deliglit, and more picturesque than 
on the trip to the same place by steamer, as we 
discover later. 

There we see a bright-ej^ed, prett}' little 
maiden, who wears a gay red handkerchief in 
place of a hat, and makes a picture as she 
drives her cow over a bit of moorland. Driver 
says she is "one of the French people," and 
that her name is Thibaudia, which, M'ith its 
English signification (a kind of heath), seems 
appropriate for one living in the wilds, and 
deliciously foreign and suggestive. We won- 
der if old Crumplehorn understands French, 
and conclude that she is a well-educated ani- 
mal, as she seems to obey directions without 



114 OVER THE BORDER. 

needing a touch of willow-brancli to punctuate 
them. 

Sometimes it seems that the names cojiferred 
On mortals at baptism in this qiieer M^orld 

Seem given for naught but to spite 'em. 
Mr. Long is short, Mr. Short is tall, 
And who so meek as Mr. Maul 1 
Mr, Lamb's fierce temper is very well known, 
Mr. Hope plods about with sigh and groan, — 

" And so proceed ad inhnitum." 

At one point on our route, when we are 
passing through a lonely and apparently unin- 
habited region, our jolly driver, '' Manyul," 
remarks, " Here 's where Nobody lives ; " Jind 
one replies, " Yes, evidently ; and I should n't 
think any one would wisli to." But a turn of 
the road brings a liouse in sight ; and driver 
says, "That's his house, and his name is ac- 
tually Nobody " (Charles, I believe). We quote, 
" What 's in a name 1 " and conclude that if he 
is at all like the kindly people of this region 
whom we have met he may be well content to 
be nobody, rather than resemble many whom 
the world considers " somebodies," but who are 
not models in any respect. 



DTGBY. 115 

Our driver is quite a character in bis way, 
and in the winter he '' goes a loggin'." On 
learning tliis we ply him Avith questions in 
such manner as would surprise a lawyer, elicit- 
ing in return graphic pictures of camp-life in 
New Brunswick wildernesses, and the amuse- 
ments with which they while away the long 
evenings in their rough barracks. He describes 
their primitive modes of cooking, their beds of 
fragrant spruce boughs overlaid with straw, — 
'' Better 'n any o' your spring mattresses, I tell 
you ! " — the queer box-like bunks along the 
wall where they "stow themselves away," and 
where the most active and useful man is, for 
the time at least, literally laid on the shelf. 

Octavius, thinking how much he would enjoy 
"roughing it" thus, asks what they would charge 
to take a young man to board in camp ; and 
driver indignantly replies, " Nothin^! Do you 
suppose we 'd charge board I No, indeed ! Just 
let him come ; and if we did n't give him a good 
time, and if he didn't get strong and hearty, 
then we 'd be ashamed of ourselves and sell out." 

Here we approach a cove which driver calls 



116 OVER THE BORDER. 

the Joggin (as it makes a cut or jog-in, we pre- 
sume) ; and beyond, a wide arm of the Basin is 
spanned by a rickety old bridge, at least a 
quarter of a mile long, named in honor of her 
Majesty, — hardly a compliment to that sover- 
eign, we think. The boards are apparently laid 
down without nails, and rattle like a fusillade 
as our vehicle rolls over them. Here and there 
planks are broken or gone entirely, showing 
the green swirling water beneath. Our chaper- 
one, ha^dng more faith in her own feet than 
those of the horses, dismounts and walks across ; 
while we, being naturally reckless and romantic, 
are willing to risk our necks for the sake of the 
charming views. 

The village of Digby stretches along the 
shore, and from the hills surrounding it the 
Basin with its islands, the Gap, and Annapolis 
Kiver, are charming. 

Disciples of old "Izaak" would be likely to 
meet with greater success here than at Annap- 
olis ; as the current of the river at the latter 
place is so strong that, as a general thing, only 
the "old salts" are anglers; and they being 



DIG BY. 117 

most of the time out in the Bay or off on 
cruises, it follows that fish are scarce in the 
market. 

An "ancient and fish-like smell" pervades 
the atmosphere in some parts of the village 
where the herring — humorously known as 
" Digby Chickens" — are spread on racks to 
dry ; but this odor, the odd little shops and 
restaurants, the clumsy and queer lumber- 
boats, the groups of tars gossiping about door- 
ways and wharves, only add to the nautical 
character of the place, and suggest reminis- 
cences of " Peggoty," '^ Ham," and others of 
Dickens's characters. 

We ignore the pleasant embowered hotel 
" in bosky dell," far up the street this time, 
though we visit it in a later sojourn ; and, ''just 
for the fun of it," take lunch in one of the 
peculiar little restaurants ; where, seated at a 
minute table in one of the tiny calico-curtained 
alcoves, we partake of our frugal repast (the 
bill of fare is extremely limited), amusing our- 
selves watching the odd customers who come 
to make purchases at the counter across the 



118 OVER THE BORDER. 

room, and "making boliovo" that we are cliar- 
ac-tors in an old Eng-lisli story. 

On \]\o, l)luff boyond the village, beneath 
great old I);ilin of (lilead trees whose foliage is 
porpetiially in n ilutter from the breeze tlirongh 
the ()l;i.]), there ;ire several cannon, whicli it 
seems could not possibly have any hostile 
intent, but a,])pear to be gratifying a mild curi- 
osity by jxH'ring across tho Basin and up the 
river beyond. 

The long and xovy high ])ier stretches far 
out \\\i(> tlu^ r)a,sin, and upon it picturesque 
groups nnconsciousl}' pose for us, adding to 
the eflect of the picture. 

l^luit the climate is salubrious and conducive 
to longevity wo are convinced after visiting the 
cemetery, where one tomb records the demise 
of a man at tlie age of one hundred and two I 

A peculiar taste for wandering among the 
tombs Ave have actpnred in this snnnner jaunt. 
Here we see tiie tond) of one recorded proudly 
as "descended from the noble families of Stuart 
and Bruce," who, tradition says, was supposed 
to luiv(^ held the })osition of servant to said 



DIGBY. 119 

scions of nobility. One who was known as a 
scoffer durin<^ life here is virtuously represented 
as " a sincere worshipper of Eternal, Almighty 
and ever just God; " reminding us of the popu- 
lar adage, '' lying like an epitaph." Twice 
have we seen one stone made to do service 
for two in an amusing manner : on the upper 
part the usual, ''Sacred to the memory of," 
etc. ; then half-way down had been carved a 
hand pointing to one side, and under it the 
words "There lies;" while the name, age, etc., 
of the later decedent was inscribed below the 
first. 

One old tomb we were with this epitaph : — 

" Tho' gready worm destroy my skin 
And gnaw my wasting flesh 
When (lod doth buihl my bones agen 
Ho '11 cloatli thorn all afresh." 

and another: — 

" What says tho silent dead 
He bids me bear my load 
With sileiit steps proceed 
And follow him to God." 

We notice that the English rule of the road 
maintains here, and our driver turns to the left 



120 OVER THE BORDER. 

when other veliicles are approaching. Captain 
C, who is from the States, tells us that he did 
not know of this custom, and in his first 
drive nearly collided with another vehicle, the 
driver of which thereupon used strong lan- 
guage. On being informed that he had almost 
overturned the conveyance of the Governor 
of Prince Edward's Island, the rash Yankee, 
undismayed, remarked, '^ Well, I don't care 
who he is, he don't know how to drive ! " 



HALIFAX. 



HALIFAX. 

Of course, as we are in the neighborhood, 
we must see the locahty to which — in mild 
and humorous profanity — States people are 
sometimes assigned; and therefore proceed to 
Halifiix and thoi-oughly " do " that sedate, 
quiet, and delightfully old-fashioned city. 

En route, as tlie train passes beyond Wind- 
sor, one says, " Here we are out of sight of 
land ; " and we then understand that it must 
have been some one from this locality who 
christened the A^alley of Annapolis the Garden 
of Nova Scotia ; for here a scene of utter 
sterility and desolation meets the view : not a 
foot of earth is to be seen, but rocks are piled 
in wild confusion everywhere. A few dead 
trees stand among the debris, emphasizing the 
loneliness ; and Conductor says when the world 
was created the "leavings" were deposited in 
this dreary tract. 



124 OVER THE BURDER. 

l>y s])Oci{il aiTJingonieiit witli " Old Prob," 
there are none of the prevailing fogs during- 
our stay; and Aurora Borealis gets up a spe- 
cial illuinination. Regiments of red-coats, with 
torches and band, — aware cU)ubtless of tlie 
presence of such distinguished strangers, — 
march past our liotel in tlie evening. 

Though we are qiuirtered in what is called 
tlie best liotel, it is a nuisty, fusty, rusty old 
building; and we agree with our friends among 
the residents (who vie with each other in show- 
ing us true English hospitality) who say they 
need an enterprising Yankee to start a good 
new hostelry, and " to show 'em how to 
run it." 

Just at this time of year the city is full of 
summer tourists, many of whom come direct 
from Baltimore by the ocean steamsliips, which 
touch ;it -this port ; but, as we are subject to 
mal-de-mcys tortures, we rejoice that ^ye came 
by " overland route." 

Though our friends have engaged rooms for 
us beforehand, we are fortunate in securing 
apartments on the fourth iioor, where peculiar 



HALIFAX. 125 

coils of rope by the windows at once attract 
our attention. These, on examination, we find 
liave big" wooden beads (like the floats of a 
seine) strung on them at regular intervals; and 
this peculiar arrangement is a primitive fire- 
escape, which we are positive that no creature 
but a monkey could use with safety. 

The prevailing fogs, and the use of soft coal, 
cause the buildings to appear dingy and rusty ; 
but we like them all the better for that, as 
the city has a more foreign air, and, in some 
parts, quite strongly suggests Glasgow. 

In the Parliament building we study the old 
portraits, concluding that the wigs nmst have 
been uncomfortable. Octavius wickedly hints 
that there is a fixshion among ladies of the 
present time ! — but as he does not tread on our 
toes, we ignore this insinuation, and turn our 
attention to the elaborate ornamentation of the 
wood- work — which is all antique hand-carv- 
ing — in the council chambers; and are much 
interested in some rare old books in the Li- 
brary, — among them a copy of the Psalms, 
three hundred years old ; and another, with 



126 ovi'jn Till': iu)i!ni<:ii. , 

music, (latod 1(j12. lloro also wo sec and are 
actually mIIowcmI to liMndlci a l)()olc, — 

" I'llHSKNTlflD 
'I'O 

THE I/KOISLATIVE LlBllARY 

Ol'' 

Nova Sdo'i'iA 

IN MMMOIt-V Ol'' III'IK OKI'lAT ANI> OOOD IlUWitAND 

IIV 

IIIH JIHOKMN lllilAKTMIi WIDOW 

VICTORIA i:." 

iiiid of coiirso Jii'o duly ovorpowoiHul nt bc- 
lioldiii<4' ilu^ valuable autogrjipli of that sov- 
ereign. 

In Olio of tlu^ oluirclics we are informed that 
51 ('(n'tiiiu balustrade '' is from America, and is 
jdl warvd," but do not iind it marvellousl}^ 
heantiful nevertheless. 

or tho o-:M-d(Mis the natives are justly proud, 
jis in this moist atmosphere jdants, trees, and 
ilow(>rs tiourish remarkably; still, we are not 
willing to concede that they are *' the linest in 
America," as we have been told. 

We conclude, as we pass the largo Admiralty 
House, with its spacious and beautiful grounds, 



HALIFAX. 127 

that Sir Somebody Something must find it a 
comfortable thing to be 

" monarch of tho sea, tluj ruler of tlio Qticcn's navoo," 
and may witli reason say, — 

"When at anchor here 1 ride, my bosom swells with pride," 

whih^ Ilalifjix herself, with her famous harbor, 
in wliich the navy of a great and powerful 
nation could find safe anchorage, witli room to 
spare, might justly finish out his song with the 
appropriate words concluding the verse : — 

"And 1 snap my fingers at a fooraan's taunts !" 

Then the Citadel, the very name of which 
revives reminiscences of Quebec, and suggests 
something out of the every-day order of sum- 
mer jaunts. As we ascend the hill to the for- 
tress, the first thing attracting our attention is 
amusing. The " squatty " looking clock-tower, 
which appears as if part of a church spire, 
had been carried away by a high wind and 
droj^ped down on tliis embankment. Octavius 
says, " What a jolly place for coasting, if it 



128 OVER THE BORDER. 

were not for the liabilit}- of being plunged into 
the harbor at the foot ! " as we mount the hill. 
At the gate we are consigned to the care of a 
tall soldier, whose round fatigue cap must be 
(jhied to his head, or it certainly would fall off, 
so exti'eme is the angle at wliich it inclines 
over his ear. A company of soldiers are drill- 
ing within the enclosure, their scarlet coats quite 
dazzling in the bright sunlight and in contrast 
with the cold gray granite ; while others, at op- 
posite angles of the walls, are practising signals 
M'ith flags, the manoeuvres of the latter being 
quite entertaining as they wave the banners, 
now slowly, now rapidly, diagonally, vertically, 
horizontally, or frantically overhead, as if sud- 
denly distraught. Probably this exercise could 
be seen in any of our forts ; but as we are now 
beyond the borders of the United States, every 
detail interests us, and we have become aston- 
ishingly observant. The gloomy and massive 
bomb-proof walls of the soldiers' quarters appear 
quite prison-like, with their narrow windows ; 
and our guide, speaking of the monotony of 
garrison life, rejoices that in a few months his 



1 



o 




HALIFAX. 129 

term of service will expire, and then he "will 
go to the States." 

" The States " seem to be a Land of Promise 
to many people of this region ; and, though 
this is gratifying to our national pride, we can- 
not but see that many make a mistake in going 
to " America ; " as, for instance, the young girls 
of Annapolis, who, leaving comfortable homes, 
hie away to Boston, where, if they can get 
positions in an already crowded field, they 
wear themselves out in factories ; or, having a 
false pride which prevents them from acknowl- 
edging failure and returning home, they remain 
until, broken down by discouragement and dis- 
appointment, compelled to accept charity. On 
this account the service at Annapolis is not 
what might be desired; and Octavius humor- 
ously wonders, when the ^' green hand" per- 
sistently offers him viands from the wrong side, 
"how he is expected to reach the plate unless 
he puts his arm around her." 

"But we digress." As our party, with other 
sight- seers who have joined the procession, 
promenade about the fort, a culprit in the 



130 OVER THE BORDER. 

guard-room catches sight of the visitors as 
they pass, and, evidently for their hearing, 
sings mischievously, — 

" Farewell, my own ! 

Light of my life, farewell ! 
For crime unknown 

I go to a dungeon cell." 

We conclude, as he is so musical about it, 
that he does not feel very much disgraced or 
oppressed by his imprisonment, though some 
one curiously inquiring '''■ why he is there," 
learns that it is for a trifling misdemeanor, 
and that punishments are not generally severe ; 
though the guide tells of one soldier who, he 
says, ''threw his cap at the Colonel, and got 
five years for it ; and we thought he 'd get ten." 

From the ramparts the picture extending be- 
fore us southeastwardly is very fine indeed, as, 
over the rusty houses shouldering each other 
up the hill so that we can almost look down 
the chimneys, we look out to the fortified islands 
and points, with the ocean beyond. 

Point Pleasant, thickly wooded to the water's 
edge, hides the strangely beautiful inlet from 



HALIFAX. 131 

the harbor known as the North West Arm, 
which cuts into the Lincl for a distance of four 
miles (half a mile in width), sugg-esting a Nor- 
wegian fiord ; but that, and the country all 
about the city, we enjoy in a long drive later. 
On the return, regardless of the gaze of 
passengers astonished at our unconventional 
actions, we sit on the platform of the rear 
car, while 

" Pleasantly gleams in the soft, sweet air the Basin of Minas," 

and the model conductor plies us with bits of 
information, which we devour with the avidity 
of cormorants. 



GRAND PRE. 



GRAND PRE. 

Finally the brakeman shouts '* Grand Free ; " 
and Octavia remarks, *^ Yes, indeed, this is the 
prand prlx of our tour," as the party stej) ofF the 
train at this region of romance. The galh^nt 
conductor, with an air of mj-ster}^, leads the 
wa}^ to a storage-room in i\\Q Httle box of a 
station, and there cho2)s pieces from a cla}'- 
covered \Aimk and presents us as souvenirs. 
*' Pieces of a coihn of one of the Acadians, 
exhumed at Grand Pre fourteen months ao-o, 
near the site of the old church," we are told ; 
and when he continues: "A Avoman's bone 
was found in it," one unromantic and matter-of- 
fact member of the Octave asserts, *'Evano-e- 
line's o-randmother, of course ; " wliile another 
sceptically remarks, ''Tliat's more than / can 
swallow ; it would g-ive me such a spell 
o' coughin' as I couldn't get over;" but the 
conductor and others stanchly avouch the 



136 OVER THE BORDER. 

genuineness of the article, affirming that they 
were present " when it was dug up." 

The '' forest primeval," if it ever stood in 
this region, must have clothed the distant hills 
which bound the vast meadow, and now are 
covered with a dense growth of small trees 
Avliich are not " murmuring pines." 

A superannuated tree in the distance it is 
said once shaded the smithy of '' Basil Lajeu- 
nesse," that '' mighty man of the village ; " and 
only stony hollows in the ground mark the site 
of the house of "Father Felician" and the 
village church. 

It was to this spot, then, that the wondering 
peasants were lured by stratagem, when, — 

" with a summons sonorous 
Sounded the bell from its tower, and over the meadows a 

drum beat. 
Thronged ere long was the church with men. Without in 

the churchyard, 
Waited the women. They stood by the graves, and hung on 

the head-stones 
Garlands of autumn-leaves and evergreens fresh from the 

forest. 
Then came the guard from the ships, and marching proudly 

among them 



GRAXD PRE. 137 

Entered the sacred portal. With loud and dissonant clangor 
Echoed the sound of their brazen drums from ceilin"- to 

casement, — 
Echoed a moment only, and slowly the ponderous portal 
Closed, and in silence the crowd awaited the will of the 

soldiers." 

After refreshing ourselves with pure, clear, 
and cold water from tlie old well, — made by 
the French, and re-walled a few jears ago, 
— we turn away, with "a longing, Ihigering 
look behind," and continue our drive throu<>"h 
the great prairie, which resembles tlie fertile 
meadow-land along the Connecticut Eiver. 
We stop a few moments near a picturesque 
little church of gray unpainted wood, and look 
off over the verdant fields to the point Avhere a 
distant shimmer of water catches the eye, and 
the hills bound the picture. Near at hand, 
on the right, the trunk of an aged apple-tree, 
"planted by the French," shows one green 
shoot; and about the church are Lombardy 
poplars, which, though good-sized trees, are 
perhaps only shoots from tliose planted by the 
Acadians, in remembrance of such arboreal 
grenadiers of their native land. 



138 OVEli THE BORDER. 

The old French dike is surmounted by a 
rough rail fence, and is now far inland, as hun- 
dreds of acres liave been reclaimed beyond, — 

" Dikes that tho hands of tho farmers had raised with labor 
incessant 
Shut out the turbulent tides." 

Our lamented American poet never visited 
this reg'ion which he describes so delightfully ; 
his reason being that, cherishing an ideal pic- 
ture, he feared reality might dissipate it. Yet 
an easy journey of twenty-eight hours would 
have brought him hither ; and we, feeling con- 
iident that he could not have been disap- 
pointed, shall always regret that he did not 
come. 

As an appropriate close to this sentimental 
journey, we drive through the secluded Gas- 
pereau valley, along the winding river, which 
is hardly more than a croek, toward its wider 
part where it flows into the Ixisin, which 
stretches out broad and shining. AYith such a 
view before us, we cannot fail to picture men- 
tally the tragic scenes of that October day in 



GRAND PR^. 139 

1755, when the fleet of great ships lay in the 
Bashi, and 

" When on the falling tide the freighted vessels departed, 
Bearing a nation, with all its household gods, into exile. 
Exile without an end, and without an example in stcn'y ; " 

those wliom Burke describes as "the poor, 
innocent, deserving people, whom our utter ina- 
bilit}'- to govern or reconcile, gave us no sort 
of riglit to extirpate," were torn from their 
happy homes, and 

" Scattered like dust and leaves, when the might}' blasts of 
October 
Seize them, and whirl them aloft, and sprinkle them far 
o'er the ocean." 

In the midst of tliese peaceful scenes was per- 
petrated a cruel wrong, and an inoffensive 
people banished by the mandate of a tyrant ! 

In that beautiful poem, parts of wliicli one 
unconsciously " gets by heart," or foils into the 
habit of quoting when sojourning in this lovely 
region, Basil tlie blacksmith says : — 

" Louisburg is not forgotten, nor Beau-S^jour nor Port 
Iluyal;" 



140 OVER THE BORDER. 

and having- held an impromptu history class on 
the subject of the last mentioned, we turn our 
attention to the other fortified points of which 
"the hasty and somewhat irascible" sledge- 
Avi elder spoke. 

By tlie treaty of Utrecht in 1713 Acadia 
was ceded to the English ; but the French 
colonists, in taking the oath of allegiance to 
their new rulers (1727-28), were promised that 
they should not be required at any time to take 
up arms against France. They were now in 
the position of Neutrals, and by that name 
were known ; but this placed them in an awk- 
ward predicament, as they were suspected by 
both contending powers. The English hated 
them, believing their sympathies to be with 
the French; while even their countrymen in 
Canada w.ere distrustful of them, urging them 
to withdraw. » 

The English colonists, fearing the extension 
of the French possessions, and having Puritan- 
ical aversion of Roman Catholicism, — of which 
the Neutrals were devout adherents, — entered 
upon the expedition against the French forts 



GRAND PRE. 141 

with the zeal of fanatics, seeming in some in- 
stances to consider their incursions in the light 
of religious crusades. 

These "men whose lives glided on like rivers 
that water the woodlands," whose descendants 
are to this day childlike and simple-hearted, 
could not understand these political distinc- 
tions, and naturally clung to the pleasant 
farms Avhich they had reclaimed from the sea 
and cultivated so diligently, being most reluct- 
ant, of course, to leave those 

" Strongly built houses, with frames of oak and of chestnut, 
Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of tho 

Henries. 
Thatched were the roofs, with dormer-windows ; and gables 

projecting 
Over the basement below protected and shaded the doorway." 

The French dominions were guarded by a 
chain of forts extending all along the Atlantic 
coast, from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of 
Mexico. That on Cape Breton Island, which 
protected the approach to the St. Lawrence, 
was considered invincible, its walls being thirty 
feet high, forty feet thick, and surrounded by a 
moat eighty feet in width. 



142 OVER THE BORDER. 

Boston sent out a fleet of forty-one vessels 
and three thousand men to Cape Breton, to 
assail the " Gibraltar of America," as the fort 
of Louisburg was called. Forces from New 
Hampshire and Connecticut joined the expedi- 
tion at Canso ; and this remarkable fortress, 
whose fortifications alone cost five million dol- 
lars, was besieged, and capitulated after forty- 
nine days, yielding to untrained soldiers ; the 
victory owing to "mere audacity and hardi- 
hood, backed by the rarest good luck," as one 
English writer says. The conquerors them- 
selves were amazed at their success when they 
discovered the great strength of the fort. Their 
victory was, in fact, due largely to manoeu- 
vres which deceived the French regarding 
the strength of their forces. 

This was ten years before the dispersion of 
the French Neutrals was effected ; and during 
those years the Acadians, being zealous Catho- 
lics and devoted to the mother country, natu- 
rally but almost unconsciously were drawn into 
the disputes between France and England ; and 
it is not to be wondered at, if, as some authori- 



GRAND PRE. 143 

ties state, there were three hundred of their 
young" men found in arms when the Enghsh 
attacked Fort Beau-Sejour. The French had 
built Forts Beau-Sejour and Gaspereau on the 
neck connecting the peninsula of Nova Scotia 
with the mainland, to guard the entrance to 
their territory. A few hot-headed youths, who 
thought they were honestly serving their coun- 
try and people by taking up arms in defence, 
might have been fo-rgiven, particularly as it is 
known that some were pressed into the service, 
and that the oath which they had taken years 
before absolved them from taking arms against 
France, but did not pledge them against serving 
in her defence. 

These forts were taken b}^ Lieutenant-Colonel 
Moncton in June, 1755, the garrison of Beau- 
Sejour being sent to Louisburg on condition 
that they should not take up arms in America 
for six months. Prince Edward's Island — then 
called St. John's Island — fell into the hands of 
the English when Cape Breton was taken, and 
the inhabitants were sent to France. In the 
summer of 1755 matters seemed to be culmi- 



144 OVER THE BORDER. 

nating", and the bitter dissensions were brought 
to a crisis. The Neutrals were again called 
upon to take the oath, the following- being the 
form in which it was presented to them : " Je 
jDromets et jure sincerement, en foi de Chretien, 
que je serai entierement fidele et obeirai vrai- 
ment sa Majeste Le Roi Georg-e, que je recon- 
nais pour le Souverain seigneur de I'Acadie, ou 
nouvelle Ecosse — ainsi Dieu me soit en aide." 

But this was not the " reserved oath," as the 
former one was called ; and the Acadians, feeling 
themselves bound by the old pledge, asked ex- 
emption from this, and requested the restoration 
, of arms which had been taken from them, agree- 
ing also to keep faithfully the old form of oath. 

Deputies from the settlements near Port 
Royal (which were above, below, and almost 
on the site of the present town of Annapolis), 
at Pisiquid (now Windsor), Minas, etc., were 
sent to Halifax, where a long conference was 
held ; but the deputies still declining to accept 
the new oath, they were imprisoned, and the 
deportation of the Acadians decided upon. In 
order to do this artifice was resorted to, to pre- 



GRAND PRE. 145 

vent the people from suspecting what was in 
store for them, and that the poor peasants might 
have no chance to leave themselves or carry 
away their possessions, '' Both old men and 
yonng men, as well as the lads of ten years of 
age," were called, by a proclamation, " to attend 
at the church at Grand Pre " at a certain time ; 
and it was declared that "no excuse" would 
''be admitted, on any pretence whatever, on 
pain of forfeiting goods and chattels, in de- 
fault of real estate." 

The settlers on the Basin of Minas were 
immigrants from Saintonge, Poitou, and La 
Rochelle, who came to this country in the 
early part of the seventeenth century. The 
land which they had reclaimed from the Basin 
was rich and fertile ; they exported grain to 
Boston, and became prosperous. The object of 
the call to the church does not seem to have 
been suspected. When Basil says, — 

" Four days now are passed since the English ships at their 
anchors 
Ride in the Gaspereau's mouth, with their cannon pointed 
against us. 

10 



146 OVER THE BORDER. 

What tlieir designs may be is unknown ; but all are com- 
manded 

On the morrow to meet in the church, where bis Majesty's 
mandate 

Will be proclaimed as law in the land ; " 

Benedict responds, — 

"Perhaps the harvests in England 
By the untimely rains or untimelier heat have been blighted, 
And from our bursting barns they would feed their cattle and 
children." 

But in the church the mystery was solved 
soon enough, and naturally a terrible scene en- 
sued. They were informed that their "lands, 
tenements, cattle, and live-stock of all kinds were 
to be forfeited to the crown, with all tlieir ef- 
fects, saving their money and household goods," 
and they themselves banished ; though, " so far 
as the capacity of the transports permitted," they 
were "to be allowed to carry their household 
goods with them," They were also promised 
that families should not be separated, and that 
the transportation should be made as easy as 
possible. 

Then they were declared prisoners, and the 



GRAND PRE. 147 

church became the guard-liouse. Ten men at 
a time were allowed to leave the building, to 
})nck their goods and assist in the preparations 
for departure ; and when they returned ten others 
were also permitted to leave for a time. While 
Moncton was destroying Remsheg, Shediac, and 
other towns on the Gulf coast, Ilandfield gath- 
ered up the French Annapolitans, and Murray 
those about Windsor, putting them on ship- 
board; and on the 21st of October the shi})s, 
with their wretched passengers, set sail. In the 
confusion and hurry of embarkation some fami- 
lies were separated ; and it is on this fact that 
the story of Evangeline is founded. 

Most of the exiles were scattered among the 
towns of Massachusetts ; and in the State House 
in Boston some curious old records relate to 
them, one town desiring compensation " for 
keeping three French pagans," from which it 
seems that there was still prejudice against , 
them because of their religion. 

" From the cold lakes of the north to sultry southern 
Savannahs," 

to the region where 



148 OVER THE BORDER. 

" On the banks of the Teche ai-e the towns of St. Maur and 
St. Martin," 

to the parish of Attakapas 

" and the prairies of fair Opelousas " 

in Louisiana, some of the exiles wandered. 
Their descendants live there at the present 
time, and are known as Cajeans. Though 
sometimes harshly treated in the towns where 
they were quartered, though shouldered off 
from one village to another when one grew 
weary of or made excuses for not maintaining 
them, the poor wanderers were mild, gentle, 
and uncomplaining. 

A writer in " Canadian Antiquities " says : 
^' None speaks the tongue of Evangeline ; and 
her story, though true as it is sweet and sor- 
rowful, is heard no more in the scenes of her 
early days." 

The way in which it came about that Long- 
fellow wrote his poem was in this wise : one 
day, when Hawthorne and a friend from Salem 
were dining with the poet, the Salem gentle- 
man remarked to the host, '' I have been trying 



GRAND PRE. 149 

to persuade Hawthorne to write a story based 
on a legend of Acadie and still current there, — 
the legend of a girl who, in the dispersion of 
the Acadians, was separated from her lover, and 
passed her life in waiting and seeking for him, 
and only found him dying in a hospital when 
both were old." The host, surprised that this 
romance did not strike the fancy of the novel- 
ist, asked if he himself might use it for a poem ; 
and Hawthorne, readily assenting, promised not 
to attempt the subject in prose until the poet had 
tried what he could do with it in metrical form. 
No one rejoiced more heartily in the success of 
the world-renowned poem than the writer who 
generously gave up an opportunity to win fame 
from his working up of the sad theme. 

Authorities differ widely regarding the num- 
ber of persons expelled from Acadia, many his- 
torians giving the estimate at seven thousand. 
In a letter from Governor Lawrence to the 
governors of the different colonies to which 
the exiles were sent, he says : '* As their num- 
bers amount to near seven thousand persons, 
the driving them off with leave to go whither 



150 OVER THE BORDER. 

they pleased would have doubtless strengthened 
Canada with so considerable a number of inhabi- 
tants." Bryant says : " Seven thousand prob- 
ably represented with sufficient accuracy the 
total French population of Acadia in 1755 ; but 
the entire number of the exiled did not exceed, 
if Minot be correct, two thousand, of whom 
many subsequently returned to Acadia." 

Five years after the departure of the exiles a 
fleet of twenty-two vessels sailed from Con- 
necticut for Grand Pr'i with a large number of 
colonists, wlio took possession of the deserted 
farms. They found sixty ox carts and yokes, 
Avhile on the edge of woods of the inland 
country and in sheltered places heaps of bones 
told of cattle which had perished of starvation 
and cold after their owners were forced to leave 
them to such a fate. A few straggling families 
of the Acadians were also found, who had es- 
caped from the search of the soldiers, and had 
lived in hiding in the wilds of the back country 
for five years, and during that time had not 
tasted bread. 



CLARE. 



CLARE. 

" Only along the shore of the mournful and misty Atlantic 
Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from exile 
Wandered back to their native land to die iu its bosom. 
In the fisherman's cot the wheel and the loom are still 

busy ; 
Maidens still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles of 

homespun, 
And by the evening fire repeat Evangeline's story." 

Resolved to see these curious '* Clare settle- 
ments," extending for fifty miles on the coast, 
where descendants of the French Acadian s 
live in peace and unity, we reluctantly take 
our departure at last from dear old Annapolis, 
which has been our restful haven so long, and 
where we have been reviving school-days in 
studying history and geograj^hy seasoned with 
poetry and romance. Altliough it was expected 
that the W. C. R. R. would be completed from 
Yarmouth to Annapolis by the latter part of 
1876, we are pleased to find that this is not the 



154 OVER THE BORDER. 

case, and that wo shall have to take steamer, 
train, niid carriage to our destination ; antici- 
pating' that any place so out of the beaten 
track nnist be interesting. 

The French settlements, a succession of 
strag-g-ling hamlets, were founded by descend- 
ants of the exiles, who, — 

" a riift as it woro from tlio shipwrecked nation, . . . 
BoTiiul by ilu) bonils of a coiiuiiuu boliof and a common 
misrorLuno," 

drifted back to "L'Acadie" in 17G3, the year 
of the treaty between France and England. 

Tlie lands of their fathers in their old haunts 
on tl»e r)a,sin of Minas were in possession of 
people from New England ; and, having a nat- 
ural and inherited affection for localities b}^ the 
sea, tliey wandered down the coast and scat- 
tered along shore as we find them now. 

A pleasant excursion l)y steamer to Digby, 
thence proceeding some miles by rail, finally 
a long but charming drive by the shore of St. 
Maiy's Bay, and we are set down at the house 
of a family of the better class, among these kindly 
and old-fashioned farming and fisher folk 



CLARE. 155 

This beautiful bay is tliirty-fivo miles long-, 
was christened Baie St. Marie l)y Chaniplain, 
and here the four ships of De Monts lay in calm 
and secure harbor for two weeks in 1604, while 
the adventurers were examining the shores of 
Nova Scotia, — explorations in which the dis- 
covery of iron pyrites deluded them with the 
belief that tliis would prove an El Dorado. 

Madame M. at first looks dismayed at the 
appeai-ance of such a group of strangers at her 
door, and is sure she cannot acconnnodate us ; 
but her daughters slyly jog her elbow, saying 
something in an undertone, as if urging her to 
consent, and we are made most domfortable. 

At first the family are a little sliy, but in a 
couple of days we become cpiite well ac- 
quainted; and, when the time comes for our 
departure they "wish we could stay longer," — 
a wish which we heartily re-echo. 

Madame proudly displays her treasures in 
hand-spun and home-woven linen and blank- 
ets ; also a carpet, the material for wliicli she 
first spun, then dyed, and finally wove; and, 
though it has been in use for ten years, it is still 



156 OVER THE BORDER. 

fresh and sliows no apparent wear. In response 
to our entreaties, she shows ns the loom, and 
brings out her spinning-wheel to instruct us in 
that housewifely accomplishment. How easy 
it looks, as the fleecy web moves through her 
fingers, and winds in smooth, even yarn on the 
swiftly- turning reel ; and, oli, what bungling 
and botching when we essay that same ! The 
two pretty, modest, and diffident daughters are 
quite overcome at last, and join in our peals of 
merriment. 

One — oh bliss ! — is named Evangeline, and, 
if we understand correctly, there is an old 
name similar' to this among these people. 
Though they sing some charming old French 
chansons for us, the two sweet girls cannot be 
induced to converse in that language. Ma- 
dame laughs, saying, "Dey know dey doant 
speak de goot French, de fine French, so dey 
will only talk Angleesh wid you." But in the 
evening, when Octavia sings an absurd college 
song, with a mixture of French and English 
words, they enjoy the fun ; and immediately 
set to work to learn: — 



CLARE. 



157 



" Oh, Jean Eaptiste, pourquoi vous grease 
My little dog's nose with tar 1 
Madame, je grease his nose with tar 
Because he have von grand catarrh ; 
Madame, je grease his nose 
Parcequ'il he vorries my leetle fite chat." 

Then the pretty Evangeline in turn becomes 
instructor, the theme being an ancient peasant 
song of France wliich her grandmother used 
to sing. One pla3\s the melody from memory, 
while the other hastily rules a bit of paper and 
writes off the notes, afterwards copying the 
words from a scrap of tattered manuscript; 
and thus the lady from " America " feels that 
she has secured a pretty souvenir of the visit : 



LES PERLES ET LES ETOILES. 



Andaijte. 



J^:E5^ES^3EJ 



^e£ 



1. Comme les pedes et les ^ - toi - les Or - nent de - ji le front des oieux ! La 

2. Sur un soup-^on tu t'es en-fuie Je pleure helas ton a - ban-don Par 



3* 






^P33=E^ 



^r 



4^^ 



3=^ 




158 



OVER THE BORDER. 




nuit e - tend par - tout son voile Elle vient de - ji fer - mer mes yieux, Re - 
un bais - er je t'en sup -pile Viens m 'accord -er un doux par - don. Oh. I 



3^ 



3 



-P- 



i 



-^— t 



"^" "*" 



-~ — #- 



SE 



^— ^- 



J=i^= 



rf^=^ 



:i=q- 



iti^zt 



viendras tu dans un doux songe, mon bel ange, toi que j 'adore Me 
crois le bien ma bonne a - mie Pour te re - Toir oh ! oui, un jour, Je 



^l 



^ ig: 



-i- -i- 



zj. :w- 



-i- -5- 



-P P- 



^ 



]^: 



=S=i' 



•^-#: 



re-pe-ter di - vers mensonges Me re - pe - ter "je t'aime en -core I" 
don-ne-rais tou - te ma vie Je don - ne - rais tons mes a - mours ! 






T^ 



S 



^ 



^ 



^ — P" 



The word ^'■mensonges''' has not the meaning 
in French which our literal translation would 



CLARE. 159 

give it. It probably signifies the pretty false- 
hoods or white lies to which lovers are some- 
what addicted. The next day is Sunday, and 
troops of people, in their peculiar costume, 
appear on the road from all directions, wend- 
ino- their way to the great white wooden 
church. * 

Despite the innate grace of the French, of 
which we hear so much, we see that the young 
men among these peasants are not unlike the 
shy and awkward country lads of Yankee- 
land. Before and between the services they 
roost on the fence opposite the church, while 
the young girls — totally oblivious of their 
proximity, of course — gather in groups on the 
other side of the road, gossiping. We infer 
that many have come a long distance to attend 
service, as we see several families eating their 
lunch, picnic fashion, in the fields near the 
church. In the church, what a sensation the 
strangers make, and hoAV interesting is the ser- 
vice ! To one of us, at least, the grand service 
of Notre Dame of Paris was not so impres- 
sive as this. In the one case, a famous Bishop, 



160 OVER THE BORDER. 

robed in priceless lace and cloth of gold, with 
a troop of acolytes at the altar, while the most 
famous singers of the Opera filled the vast 
structure with rapturous melody ; in the other, 
a large plain wooden building with glaring 
windows of untinted glass ; the priest in vest- 
ments of coarse Nottingham lafte and yellow 
damask, — but with spiritual, benignant coun- 
tenance, — and a choir of untrained voices. A 
company of men droned out Gregorian cliants 
in painfully nasal tones, using antique books 
with square-headed notes ; then the sweet 
voice of our host's daughter, Evangeline, 
sounded solo, and her youthful companions in 
the choir took up the chorus of the Kyrie 
Eleison : — 

" Then came the evening service. The tapers gleamed from 
the altar, 

Fervent and deep was the voice of the priest, and the people 
responded, 

'Not with their lips alone, but with their hearts ; and the 
Ave Maria 

Sang they, and fell on their knees, and their souls with de- 
votion translated, 

Eose on the ardor of prayer, like Elijah ascending to 
heaven." 



CLARE. 161 

The young girls array themselves in hats 
and costumes which are only two or three 
years behind the prevailing mode; but the 
attire of the middle-aged and elderly women 
is striking and peculiar. For Sundays, this is 
invariably black throughout, and yet does not 
look funereal. The dress is of plain bombazine 
or alpaca, a shawl folded square, and over the 
head a large silk handkerchief, which nnist be 
put on with greatest exactness and care to 
make just so many folds at the sides with a 
huge knot under the chin ; while the point at 
the ^back hangs below the neck, and generally 
has one or more initials neatly worked in 
colors C cross-stitch") in the corner. As most 
have clear olive complexion, with rich color in 
the cheeks, and lustrous black eyes, this head- 
dress is surprisingly becoming, giving quite a 
gypsyish effect. 

During the week, a calico dress with long 
white apron is worn by women and children, 
and over the head a light chintz handkerchief, 
or a gay *' bandanna;" — quite suggestive of 
the every-day wear of foreign peasantry. We 

11 



102 OVER THE BORDER. 

are told that a <>-irl's woaltli is sometimes esti- 
mated by tlie number of lumdkerchiefs she 
owns. Mrs. R. says she has, in winter, seen n 
girl divest herself of no less than ten head-ker- 
chiefs ; taking- them off, one by one, and care- 
fully folding- them in the most natural manner, 
jis if there could be nothing uncommon or 
amusing- in the proceeding-. 

The old women, in winter, wear enormous 
cloaks, made with a larg-e square yoke, into 
which eiii-ht oi- ten breadths of material are 
closely plait(Ml, — this unwieldy g-arment com- 
pletely enveloping- them from head to foot. 

These distinctive features in costume are 
disa})pearing', and ere long- our American peas- 
juitry may become commonplace and uninter- 
esting-. Let us hope that they ma}^ never lose 
the sweet sim])licity, frankness, honesty, thrift, 
and other pleasing characteristics which they 
now possess. 

In the houses is seen a peculiar rocking- 
settle, similar to those in use among the Penn- 
sylvania Dutch. This odd piece of furniture 
has one end railed in front to serve for cradle ; 



CLARE. 163 

SO papa, mamma, and baby can rock and "take 
comfort " together. 

Towards evening we visit the convent, where 
the sisters — who probably do not receive fre- 
quent calls from visitors — seem glad of the 
opportunity for a pleasant chat and a bit of 
news from the outside world. They show us 
through their exquisitely neat establishment, 
where, in the culinary department, a ci-one 
who is deaf and rather childish approaclies us 
with such strong evidence of delight, tliat we 
expect at least to be embraced ; but a sign from 
the Superior relieves us from the impending 
demonstration. 

At sunset, as we stroll along the road, three 
pretty little girls who are driving home a flock 
of geese tempt us to air our French a little, and 
a lively conversation ensues, causing their black 
eyes to sparkle and their white teeth to flash 
bewitchingly. One of the children explains why 
one of the awkward birds wears a clumsy tri- 
angular collar of wood, with a stake apparently 
driven through its throat, " to prevent it from 
going through the fences ; " and when one of 



164 OVER THE BORDER. 

the strangers, imitating the waddHng gait of the 
creatures, improvises, — 

Bon soir, 
Madame Oie, 
Veux tu le ble 1 
II est a toi ! 

such a shout of merry laughter is heard as one 
might willingly go a long way to listen to. 
When one gives her name, " Th^rese le Blanc,'''' 
our query, '' Yotre pere, est il la Notaire f " 
strange to say, puzzles her; but she probably 
is not familiar with a certain famous poem, 
although our hostess and her daughters have 
perused it. 

As time passes, and she feels better acquainted 
and at ease with us, Madame M,'s younger 
daughter amuses us by showing some mis- 
chievous tendency ; and we conclude she is 
something of " a tease." In the most artless 
manner, and without intentional familiarity, 
she slides her arm through Octavia's in a con- 
fidential manner and imparts some important 
information '' dans I'oreille," What is it ? 
Well, remember it is whispered ; and now donH 



CLARE. 165 

go and tell ! It is that there is a swain who 
is p]vangeline's special devoted ; and the quick 
bliisli which rises most becomingly on that 
damsel's cheek speaks for itself. We have seen 
for ourselves how 

" Many a youth, as he knelt in the church and opened his 
missal 
Fixed his eyes upon her ; " 

and as our eyes turn to the lovely view of the 
Bay Avith its sheltering highlands we can readily 
imagine how, on just such evenings as this, — 

" apart, in the twilight gloom of a window's embrasure, 
Sat the lovers, and whispered together, beholding the moon 

rise 
Over the pallid sea," 

while 

" Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven. 
Blossom the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels." 

We do not ask if the lover's name is "■ Gabriel," 
but earnestly wish her a happier lot than that 
of the sad heroine of Grand Pre's story. 

The sun sinks behind the hills which bound 
lovely St. Mary's Bay, and we plainly see the 
two curious openings known as the Grand Pas- 



166 OVER THE BORDER. 

sage and Petit Passage, through which the fish- 
ermen sail when conveying their cargoes to St. 
John. The Petit Passage is one mile wide ; 
and passing through this deep strait the hardy 
fishermen can, in favorable weather, cross to 
St. John in eight to ten hours. These highlands 
across the Bay, known as Digby Neck and 
Long Island, are a continuation of the range 
of mountains terminatino;' in Blomidon on the 
Minas Basin, and so singularly cut away to make 
entrance to Annapolis Basin, at St. George's 
Channel, vulgarly known as Digby Gut. 

When De Monts and his party were ready to 
cpntinne their cruise from this sheltered haven, 
behold ! one of their company — a priest — was 
missing ; and though they waited several days, 
making signals and firing guns, such sounds 
were drowned by the roar of the surf, and 
never reached the ears of the poor man lost 
in the woods. At last, supposing that the 
wanderer had fallen a prey to wild animals, 
the explorers sailed away, and, finding the 
entrance to Annapolis Basin, began to make 
preparation for colonizing at Port Royal. 



CLARE. 167 

Sixteen days after the disappearance of the 
priest, some of De Monts's men returning to this 
Bay to examine the minerals more thoroughly, 
Mere attracted by a signal fluttering on the 
sliore, and, hurrying to land, there found tlie 
poor priest, ema.ciated and exhausted. W.hat 
strange sensations the distracted wanderer must 
have experienced in these forest wilds, with star- 
vation staring him in the face ! No charms did 
he see in this scene which now delights us ; and 
doubtless, with Selkirk, would have exclaimed, 
'' Better dwell in the midst of alarms, than to 
live in this beautiful place." 

This strange wild coast and the Cod Banks 
of Newfoundland were known to and visited 
by foreign fishermen at a very early date. 
"The Basques, that primeval people, older 
than histor}^," frequented these shores ; and it 
is supposed that such fisheries existed even 
before the voyage of Cabot (1497). There is 
strong evidence of it in 1504; while in 1527 
fourteen fishing vessels — Norman, Portuguese, 
and Breton — were seen at one time in the Bay 
of Fundy, near the present site of St. John. 



168 OVER THE BORDER. 

When we question our hostess as to the 
species of finny tribes found in these waters, 
she mentions menhaden, mackerel, ale wives,- 
lierring-, etc. ; and, proud of her English, con- 
cludes her enumeration with, '' Dat is de most 
only feesh dey kotch here." 

Another drive of many miles along- the shore 
brings us to the neighborhood of the very 
jumping-off place of the Scotian peninsula, 
with novel sights to attract the attention en 
route. Now and then a barn with thatched 
roof; here a battered boat overturned to make 
Piggy and family a habitation ; there heavy 
and lumbering ^/^ree-wheeled carts, with the 
third rotator placed between the shafts, so the 
poor ox Avho draws the queer vehicle has n't 
much room to spare. 

Huge loads of hay pass us, and other large 
farm-wagons, drawn invariably by handsome 
oxen. Tlie ox-yokes are a constant marvel to 
us ; 'for, divested of the bows, they are fastened 
with leather straps to the bases of the poor crea- 
tures' horns. Evidently there is no " S. P. C. A." 
here ; and we cannot convince those with whom 



CLARE. 169 

we converse on tlie subject that the poor ani- 
mals would pull better by their shoulders than 
by their heads. At several places we see the 
clumsiest windmills for sawing* wood : not after 
the fashion of the picturesque buildings which 
Don Quixote so valiantly opposed, but a heavy 
frame-work or scaffolding- about twelve feet in 
height. To this is attached a wheel of heaviest 
plank with five fans, each one shaped like the 
arm of a Greek cross, and the whole so pon- 
derous we are confident that nothing less than 
a hurricane could make it revolve. 

Here is a house entirely covered with dia- 
mond-shaped shingles, having also double and 
triple windows, which are long, narrow, and 
pointed at the top, yet not suggestive of the 
gothic. 

Next we pass a point where an old post-inn 
once stood, and where the curiously curved, 
twisted, and strangely complicated iron frame 
which once held tlie swinging sign still remains. 

Many a bleak ride did that mounted carrier 
have, no doubt, in days of yore ; and we can 
imagine him saying : — 



170 OVER THE BORDER. 

" The night is late, I dare not wait ; the winds begin to blow, 
And ere I gain the rocky plain there '11 be a storm, I know ! " 

At our final halting--place all is bustle, in 
preparation for a two days' fete, which com- 
mences next day; nevertheless, had we been 
princes of the realm, we could not have been 
shown truer hospitality. Pere Basil Armand 
himself waits upon us, while his wife is cook- 
ing dainties for the coming- festival ; and the 
pretty Monica, g-iving up her neat apartment to 
one of our party, lodges at a neighbor's. 

Monsieur R., though seventy-eight years of 
age, retains all his faculties perfectly, is straight 
as an Indian, his luxuriant hair unstreaked with 
gray, and he is over six feet in height. He 
reminds us of the description of Benedict Belle- 
fontaine : — 

"Stalwart and stately in form was the man of seventy 
winters ; 
Hearty and hale was he," an oak that is covered with 
snow-flakes ; " 

but our host is even a finer specimen of vigor- 
ous age. Then his books — for he is collector 
of customs, a post which he has held for twenty- 



CLARE. 171 

five years — would amaze many a younger clerk 
or scribe ; and he is amused, but apparently 
gratified, when we ask for his autograph, which 
he obligingly writes for each in a firm, clear, 
and fine hand. He says of the people of this 
settlement, that they generally speak patois, 
though many, like himself, can speak pure 
French ; that they are faithful and true-hearted, 
industrious and thrifty. He adds: "We are 
not rich, we are not poor, but we are happy 
and contented." 

During the fearful scenes of 1793 an amiable 
priest of great culture, a man noble in character, 
as by birtli, fled from the horrors of the French 
Kevolution, and found among this simple, child- 
like people a peaceful haven and happy home. 
This earnest man, Abb^ Segoigne, devoted him- 
self in everyway to their good, governing them 
wisely and well, and might truly have said, in 
the words of Father Felician, — 

" I labored ainong you and taught you, not in word alone but 
in deed." 

Many years he resided here. His memory is 
now venerated almost as that of a saint, and 



172 OVER THE BORDER. 

we are of course greatly interested when Mon- 
sieur R. brings out, with just pride, his greatest 
treasure, — a cumbersome and quaint old vol- 
ume which was once the property of the good 
priest. 

There is a strong feeling of brotherhood, like 
the Scottish clanship, among the people ; and 
the lands of parents are divided and subdivided, 
so the children at marriage may each receive a 
portion as dower, and " settle down " near their 
childhood's home ; consequently the farms are 
'^ long drawn out," extending sometimes in very 
narrow strips for a mile or more inland. 

Abbe Eaynal writes most poetically, although 
not absolutely in rhyme, of this gentle brother- 
hood, " where every misfortune was relieved 
before it could be felt, without ostentation on 
the one hand and without meanness on the 
other. Whatever slight differences arose from 
time to time among them were amicably ad- 
justed by their elders." 

Our driver says " etwelles" for etoiles, '^ fret" 
for froid, "si" for oui, etc.; the dancing crests 
of the waves he calls " chapeaux blancs," which 



CLARE. 173 

is similar to our appellation, and also speaks of 
" un bon coop de the," showing* that an English 
word is occasionally adopted, thoiig-li hardly 
recognizable in their peculiar phraseology. 

Our pleasant acquaintance, Dr. R., who lived 
here several years after he "came out" from 
England, tells us that the mackerouse, a wild 
duck, is found here ; and, as it subsists upon 
fish, the people are allowed to eat that bird on 
Fridays. He also says that the pigs wade out 
into the mud at low tide to root for clams; 
while the crows, following in their tracks, steal 
the coveted shell-fish from under the very noses 
of the swine. Of the remarkably long nasal 
appendages of this peculiar porcine species he 
adds, "They do say that they'll root under a 
fence and steal potatoes from the third row ! " 

In this locality we hear Yarmouth spoken of 
as if it were a port equal to New York in im- 
portance, and so it doubtless seems to these 
simple untravelled people. In reality it is a 
prosperous maritime town owning one hundred 
and thirty thousand tons of shipping, and is a 
mildly picturesque place when the tide is high. 



174 OVER THE BORDER. 

The Indian name appropriately signifies " end 
of the land," and one might natm'ally suppose, 
when arriving there, that he had reached '' that 
famous fabled country, ' away down east ; ' " 
thousrh, should he continue his travels to Lab- 
rador, that mythical region would still lure him 
on. The inhabitants are mainly seafaring men, 
— many of the captains of Cape Ann fishing 
fleets came from here originally, — and they call 
the Atlantic from Cape Ann to Yarmoutli all Bay 
of Fundy, though that is '' rather stretching it." 

It was 'near here that De Monts made his 
first landing and caught a nightingale (May 16, 
1604). Not far beyond, about the shores of 
Argyle Bay, a great man}^ " French Neutrals" 
found refuge in 1755 (though an English ship 
tried to rout them) ; and they were hunted like 
wild animals about here for two or three years 
after. 

We conclude that the hamlets on the upper 
part of St. Mary's Bay are most interesting, and 
that it is hardly worth while to continue down 
the coast unless one desires to take steamer 
from this port to Boston. 



CLARE. 175 

In our strolls about the village, we come to 
a point on the shore where a boy has a quan- 
tity of fine large lobsters which he has just 
taken from the trap ; and when one of our party 
asks for what price he will sell some, the an- 
swer- — ^"One cent each" — is so astoundins" that 
the query is repeated, so we may be convinced 
that we have heard aright. Pere Basil is evi- 
dently surprised at our taste when he sees us 
returning with our purchases, as he remarks, 
"We don't think much of those at tliis time of 
year;" from which we infer that at some seasons 
they have to depend so much upon fish, lob- 
sters, etc., that they become weary of them. 

There is such Gallic atmosphere about this 
place (and trip) that Octavia is infected, and 
perpetrates doggerel on a postal, which is to 
be mailed from the ''land's end" to acquaint 
foreign relatives with our advent in a foreign 
country also ! — 

Tont est " 0. K." 

Je suis arrivee 

Dans ce joli pays, 

Avec bonne saute, 

Mais bien fatisuee. 



176 OVER THE BORDER. 

Adieu. E. B, C. 
(0 quelle atrocite ! 
Mais je n'ai ni grammaire 
!Ni dictionnaire frangais.) 

" Pleasantly rose next morn the sun," 

and though we are up and out betimes, — 

" Life had long been astir in the village, and clamorous labor 
Knocked with its hundred hands at the golden gate of the 

morning. 
Now from the country around, from the farms and the 

neighboring hamlets. 
Came in their holiday dresses the blithe Acadian peasants. 
Many a glad good morrow and jocund laugh from the young 

folk 
Made the bright air brighter, as up from the numerous 

meadows, 
Group after group appeared, and joined or passed on the 

highway. 
Long ere noon, in the village all sounds of labor were 

silenced. 
Thronged were the streets with people ; and noisy groups 

at the house-doors 
Sat in the cheerful sun, and rejoiced and gossiped together. 
Every house was an inn, where all were welcomed and 

feasted ; 
For with tliis simple people, who lived like brothers to- 
gether. 
All things were held in common, and what one had was 

another's." 



CLARE, 177 

Pere Basil is surprised to find that we have 
not come especially to attend the festival, of 
which we had not heard until our arrival, 
though he evidently thinks the fame of their 
elaborate preparations has travelled far and 
wide. While we are waiting for the vehicles 
which are to convey us to the railroad station 
(a long drive inland) many most picturesque 
groups pass the door; some walking, some 
riding on ox-carts, and all carrying flowers, 
pyramidal and gorgeously ornamented cakes, 
or curious implements for games, totally un- 
known to us moderns ! Our host has a pleasant 
greeting for all, and receives cordial reply, and 
sometimes merry jest and repartee from the 
happy revellers. 

Much to our delight, our route to the station 
passes the grounds where the fete is held ; and 
here we see booths of boughs, a revolving 
swing (which they call a "galance"), fluttering 
flags, and gay banners. 

Merry groups of young people are engaged 
in games or dances, while the elders are gos- 
siping, or look on approvingly, and the air is 

12 



178 OVER THE BORDER. 

filled with lively music. Can it be that the 
melodies which we hear are the famous old 
ones, ''Tons les Bourgeois de Chartres" and 
''Le Carillon de Dunkerque " ! It would 
hardly surprise us, as tliis quaint place seems 
a century or so behind the times. 

We wish we could stop for an hour or two 
to watch them ; but trains wait for no man, and 
we must return to Digby and there take 
steamer for St. John. 

That short passage of twelve leagues has 
been our bugbear for some days, as travellers 
whom we met at Annapolis pictured its hor- 
rors so vividly, representing its atrocities as 
exceeding those of the notorious English 
Channel. Yet we glide as smoothly through 
the eddies and whirlpools of the beautiful 
Gap as a Sound steamer passes through Hell 
Gate. This remarkable passage-way is two 
miles in length ; the mountains rise on either 
hand to the height of five hundred and sixty 
and six hundred and ten feet, the tide between 
rushing at the rate of five knots an hour. We 
note gray, water-worn rocks at the sides, 



CLARE. 179 

resembling pumice in appearance, though of 
course very much harder stone, and evidently 
of similar formation to tliat of the ovens at Mt. 
Desert And now we sweep quietly out into 
the dreaded Bay of Fundy, the water of which 
rests in such oily quietude as even Long Island 
Sound rarely shows. On this hazy, lazy, sunny 
afternoon not a swell is perceptible (unless some 
among the passengers might be designated by 
that title) ; and after four and a half liours of 
most dreamy navigation, we enter the harbor 
of St. John, where the many-tinted signal 
lights are reflected in the black water, and a 
forest fire on a distant liill throws a lurid light 
over the scene. 

When the tide turns, there can be seen fre- 
quently far out in the Bay a distinct line in 
the water, — a line as sharply defined as that 
between the Arve and Rhone at their junction 
near Gleneva. It is when wind and tide are 
at variance that the roughest water is encoun- 
tered; and they say that if one would avoid 
an unpleasant game of pitch and toss, the pas- 
sage across should not be attempted during or 



180 OVER THE BORDER. 

immediately after a blow from the northwest 
or southeast. So make a note of that ! Old 
salts at Annapolis told us that the water of the 
Bay " gets up " suddenly, but also quiets down 
soon, and that after a windless night one might 
be reasonably certain of a comfortable trip 
across. 

Having supposed that St. John had lost half 
its cliarm and quaintness since the fire, we are 
surprised to find so much of interest when we 
are out at the ''top of the morning" next day, 
and are reluctant to leave ; but here the Octave 
disintegrates, scatters to finish the season else- 
where ; and each member, on arrival at home, 
probably invests in reams of paper and quarts 
of ink, setting to work to tell his friends all 
about it, and where ''they must surely go next 



L'ISLE DES MONTS DESERTS." 



"L'ISLE DES MONTS DESERTS." 
(a lettee by the way.) 

" Beautiful Isle of the Sea ! " 

When we said, "Let us go to Mt. Desert," 
Joe gave us Punch's advice on marriage : 
"Don't!" Sue said, "It lias lost half its 
charms by becoming so fashionable ; " and Hal 
added, as an unanswerable argument, " You '11 
not be able to get enough to eat." As to his 
veracity on this subject we cannot vouch, though 
we can testify to his voracity, and mischievously 
throw a quotation at him : — 

" The turnpike to men's hearts, I find, 
Lies through tlieir mouths, or I mistake mankind." 

Despite such discouragements, being natur- 
ally obstinate, go we do ; and here we are in 
the most refreshingly primitive and imfashion- 
able abiding place, the domicile commanding a 
view which cannot be equalled by any public 



184 OVER THE BORDER. 

house on the island. From the piazzas and our 
windows the eye never tires of gazing- on the 
beautiful bay with its numerous islands, — a 
charming" picture, with the blue and symmet- 
rical range of Grouldsboro' hills for background. 
From a point not far back of the house, the eye 
ranges from the head of Frenchman's Bay out 
to the broad ocean ; while a retrospective view 
takes in the wild mountainous region of the 
interior of this lovely isle. 

We arrive at a fortunate time. For a long while 
previous Nature had persistently enveloped her 
face in a veil, giving an air of mystery which 
the summer guests did not appreciate. The 
skipper of the yacht which conveys us when 
we circumnavigate the island tells us " there is 
a fog factory near by," a statement which, for 
a few davs, we are inclined to credit. The 
nabobs of Newport, the Sybarites of Nahant, 
and even the commonplace rusticators at other 
shore resorts have been served in the same man- 
ner, however ; so we sympathize with them fully, 
and with them exult at the final dissolution of 
the vapors, as the gray curtain gradually lifts 



'TISLE DES MONTS DESERTS." 185 

and rolls away, its edge all jag-ged as if torn 
by the lance-like tips of fir and spruce trees 
as it swept over them. These noble hills are 
densely wooded, but not with the forest giants 
one sees among the White Mountains ; and when 
I express my surprise thereat, I am told that 
fifty or sixty years ago the greater part of the 
island was denuded by fire, so that remains of 
the primeval forest can only be found in distant 
spots not easily accessible. Notices are now 
posted in the woods at various points, by which 
" visitors are earnestly requested to extinguish 
all fires which they may light, and not to strip 
the bark from the birches." 

In our inland excursions the rugged moun- 
tains, with their storm-scarred, rocky summits, 
wild ravines, and forest-embedded b.ases, so 
constantly suggest the grand scenery of New 
Hampshire that we can hardly realize that we 
are anywhere near the sea. Then, on a sudden 
turn of the road, a broad stretch of ocean — 
blue, sparkling, and sail-dotted, framed in 
graceful birches, feathery larches, and dark 
pines — comes upon us as a surprise. 



186 OVER THE BOEDER, 

The peculiar vehicle which is here known as 
a " buckboard" we find a comfortable convey- 
ance, with a motion which seems a combination 
of see-saw and baby-jumper. The " body " is 
composed of four long boards laid side by side, 
supported only at the extreme ends where they 
are hung over the axles. The seats are in the 
middle. They are neither elegant nor graceful, 
but easy, " springy " vehicles, which, having 
neither sides nor top covers, give unimpeded 
views, and are excellent for sight-seeing, though 
not precisely the thing for rainy weather. 

Canoing is a favorite amusement ; and in the 
management of these light and graceful boats 
many of the summer guests become quite ex- 
pert. The motion suggests that of a gondola. 
A catamaran scoots about the harbor among the 
islands ; tiny steamers, sailing craft of all kinds, 
are seen ; and sometimes United States training 
ships sail majestically into tlie bay and drop 
anchor, giving a finishing touch to the picture. 

Skippers are very cautious, and frequently 
will not allow their canoes or other boats to go 
out, although it may appear perfectly safe to 



'TISLE DBS MONTS DESERTS." 187 

the uninitiated. Visitors rarely have any idea 
what sudden " flaws " and gusts of air are caused 
by the position of and openings between the 
mountains; and when these, as well as the 
tidal swell and currents of the ocean about 
the shore, have to be studied, navigation be- 
comes scientific. 

The arrival of the steamer is the great event 
of the day ; and on Sunday, after morning ser- 
vice, the butterflies of fashion flit to the pier 
to see the landing of passengers. It is rather 
embarrassing for weary travellers to be obliged 
to ''rim the gauntlet" as they pass through the 
gay throng, for every one stares with all his 
might. This does not seem to be considered 
rude here, and every one is met by a ''battery 
of eyes ; " I presume because each person ex- 
pects, if he remain here through the season, to 
meet every one whom he ever knew. 

The yachting and tennis costumes which are 
worn here would certainly cause many of the 
sober residents of the Quaker City to open 
their eyes wide with horror, — if they were 
able to open them, and were not blinded by 



188 OVER THE BORDER. 

the first glance. One divinity, in scarlet and 
white striped awning-cloth, we christen the 
" mint stick." And such hats ! — each so placed 
upon the head that, however huge, it is utterly 
useless as a shade ; but as effect is what all are 
striving for, any other consideration is of no 
importance whatever. Such attire would be 
hooted at in some places ; and we wonder that 
it does not strike old settlers breathless with 
amazement at the extravagances and follies of 
''these city folks." Jim quotes, " Any color so 
it's red," when surveying a brilliantly attired 
company at this place, as that aggressive hue pre- 
vails. These fantastic costumes are frequently 
seen in the mornings on the shore, where the 
wearers are engaged in an amusement here 
known as ''rocking," This consists in loung- 
ing on the rocks with interesting youths, who, 
arrayed in picturesque yachting or tennis suits, 
pose artistically, and, beneath the shade of 
scarlet or Japanese umbrellas, talk of — the 
weather, of course. Elsewhere this would be 
known as flirting. 

We do not approve of the names of some of 



'TISLE DES MONTS DESERTS." 189 

the public houses, and wonder that they could 
not have chosen more suggestive titles. The 
" Hotel des Isles " has a more suitable and 
appropriate cognomen, — if they would spell it 
correctly, which they invariably do not. This 
name is borne by descendants of the old French 
settlers, but is now, sad to tell, pronounced 
by their contemporaries " De Sizzle." We call 
our house Pleasant Haven, or Restful Retreat, 
though it appears under a different title in the 
guide-book. It would never do to tell what its 
name '' really and truly " is, lest you should 
think I have been engaged to '' puff" it. We 
have delicious bread and excellent fare ; and, 
though this is plain, of course, all is temptingly 
served, and everything neat and nice enough 
for any one. 

Our rooms are extremely plain, but neat. 
Closets are unknown ; but on hooks along the 
wall on one side of the apartment we hang 
our garments, protecting them with chintz cur- 
tains which we brought for the purpose. A 
resident of Fifth Avenue occupies the garret- 
rooms above, having selected them from choice ; 



190 OVER THE BORDER. 

and, expatiating on their advantages in quiet, 
air, and views, becomes an Attic Philosopher. 

Occasionally we get out our fineries, and go 
to some " hop " or entertainment in the village, 
but return better satisfied with our present 
home ; and, snapping our fingers at Mrs. 
Grundy, do not envy any of her votaries. If 
our advice were asked, we should say: " Come 
to one of the smaller hostelries, like this, where 
you can be independent and comfortable ; and 
bring half-worn winter garments, with boots 
ditto, to be prepared for tramping and excur- 
sions." 

The excursions which can be taken I will not 
enumerate ; will merely state that the ascent of 
Green Mountain, in clear weather, and the drive 
to Great Head are most satisfactory. On our 
way to the latter point we stop at Anemone 
Cave, w^iere we enjoy an impromptu concert 
by members of Philadelphia glee clubs, the 
fine voices and beautiful harmonies being en- 
hanced by the dark arch of rock and the cease- 
less music of the surf, which forms a grand 
accompaniment. 



''L'ISLE DES MONTS DESERTS." 191 

The view from Green Mountain is quite 
unique, the eye traversing ocean and land for 
forty miles in any direction ; following- the sin- 
gularly serrated coast of Maine, the course of 
Somes Sound, — that remarkable inlet from the 
sea which almost divides the island, — and trac-. 
in«- the wavinsr line of far distant mountain 
ranges. The mainland is curiously cut into 
long rocky points and ragged peninsulas, from 
which the islands seem to have broken off and 
drifted out to sea. From this height (fifteen 
hundred and thirty-five feet) the ocean seems 
placid and smooth, — much less awe-inspiring 
than from the shore, Avliere the surges roll in 
with such tremendous power, as if endeavoring 
to crush the towering cliffs Avhich oppose them. 
The clustering buildings of Bar Harbor appear 
like a chikl's playthings, or Nuremberg toys ; 
the miniature vessels like sea-gulls just alighted ; 
the white tents of the Indian encampment ludi- 
crously suggest a laundry with big " wash " hung 
out to dry; and the whole scene looks as if 
viewed through the large end of an opera 
glass. It is a peaceful and beautiful picture for 



192 OVER THE BORDER. 

memory to treasure and look back upon with 
deliglit. 

At Fernald's Point, at the base of Flying- 
Mountain, two miles north of Southwest Har- 
bor, is the supposed location of the French set- 
tlement, which was founded by a party of priests 
and colonists sent out from France to Port Poyal 
(now Annapolis, Nova Scotia), who, losing their 
way in fog, landed here. The peaceful little com- 
munity, after only a few weeks' occupancy, were 
routed by that grasping individual, Argall, the 
deputy-governor of Virginia, who was detested 
by his own colonists for his tyranny and rapac- 
ity. That person, not content with the domains 
which his position entitled him to govern, cruised 
along the Atlantic coast, making many such in- 
cursions among the colonists. In this case, after 
destroying the buildings, he cruelly set adrift 
in an open boat fifteen of the poor, harmless 
people, who, after suffering great hardships, 
were picked up by a trading vessel and con- 
veyed to St. Malo. We wonder that investiga- 
tions have not been made ere this at this spot, 
as it seems probable that old implements and 



e 



E 
c 




''VISLE DES MONTS DESERTS.'' 193 

objects of interest might be brought to hght. 
How we wish we were members of the Maine 
Historical Society, and by that body empow- 
ered to superintend excavations at the site of 
a colony which was in existence (1G13) seven 
years before the landing of the Piloiims ! 

Samuel de Champlain, friend, associate, and 
pilot of De Monts in the latter's investigations 
of his possessions in Acadia (in 1604), was 
sponsor of this island which has since become 
so famous, of which he speaks as '' La grande 
Isle des Monts Deserts ; " and by the early 
Lord of the Realm the whole of Frenchman's 
Bay was also called La Havre du Saint Sau- 
veur. That wicked Jim says that the Indian 
name of the island must suggest itself to some 
travellers on their way here, unless they come 
by the land route. 

Tliere are thirty-five guests in our house, wlio 
form a pleasant company ; and though of course 
there is great diversity of taste and character 
shown among them, they form a harmonious as- 
sembly. In the evenings we liave '' sings," read- 
ings, games, and charades, frequently growing 

13 



194 OVER THE BORDER. 

hilarious. Sedate professors, dignified divines, 
and learned writers enter into these sports with 
the zest of schoolboys on a holiday. Some of 
these games may be new ; and that others may 
derive amusement for similar occasions, I will 
describe two of them. In one, called Compari- 
son, the company seat themselves in a circle. 
Each one whispers to his right-hand neighbor 
the name of a person (known to the company) ; 
to the one at his left, the name of an object. 
Then each in turn gives aloud the name which 
his neighbor whispered to him, and tells why 
he or she resembles the object, making the 
comparison complimentary or otherwise. The 
uncom23limentary comparisons are generally 
the most laughable, and of course all under- 
stand that 't is " all for fun," so no one takes 
any offence. For instance : " Mr. J. resembles 
the harbor bar, or did this morning, because 
there was a heavy swell rolling over him ; " the 
company understanding this as an allusion to 
a frolicsome tussle which Mr. J. had with the 
beau of the house. A rli3aTiing game also 
affords much amusement. One person gives 



*'L'ISLE DES MONTS DESERTS.'' 



195 



his neighbor a list of words, — the words end- 
ing- tlie lines of a sonnet or part of a pociui, — 
and tlie person receiving the list must till in 
the lines, bringing* in the words given, in proper 
order, at the ends of the lines. In the follow- 
ing instance the words italicized are the ones 
which the player received from his neighbor ; 
in this case the terminal words of Longfellow's 
beautiful description of a calm night by the sea 
will be recognized, although the word " ocean" 
was inadvertently substituted for " organ : " — 

" All the long white beach is sileiit 
As a beach should ever be, 
While the sea-gulls stand and listen 
To the moaning of the sea. 
All the solemn oysters gather, 
Gazing upward to the 5^7/, 
While a lobster breaks the silence. 
Crooning low his litany. 
Little shrimps in their dark cdverris. 
Eating supper all alone. 
Looking out upon the ocean, 
Whispering in an undertone : 
* 'T is sad and lonelj'' by these beaches, 
Shall we never go beyond ? ' 
All the barnacles, uprising, 
'j^ever,' tearfully respond.'" 



196 OVER THE BORDER. 

As we are by the sea, nautical rhymes seem 
to turn out naturally. The writer of this re- 
markable effusion is evidently not an evolu- 
tionist, though he may think there are some 
" queer fish" among the heterogeneous inhabi- 
tants of this island. 

At last the day comes when we must turn 
away from these lovely scenes ; and it is with 
regret, and many a backward look, that we are 
conveyed to the Rockland boat. That vessel 
pursues a circuitous route along the coast, 
• among the picturesque islands ; the trip sug- 
gesting quite forcibly the St. Lawrence with its 
Thousand Isles, as old Neptune is fortunately 
in amiable mood, and shows a smiling coun- 
tenance. So we have no grudge to lay up 
against him, and only pictures tinged with 
couleur-de-rose to carry away with us. 

SEA-SIDE AMUSEMENT IN THE '' CITY OF SOLES." 

As it is our custom to come to these New- 
England shores every summer, in order, as Jim 
says, to get salted so that we may keep well 



^^riSLE DES MONTS DESERTS:' 197 

through the winter (by which yon need not 
infer tlia.t we ''get into a pickle"), we com- 
mence the process at this place, before proceed- 
ing to more Northerly points. 

As the "dry spell" has made the roads so 
dusty that there is little pleasure in driving, 
and our horses are at present in the stables of 
our Chafeaux-eii-Espagne, and consequently not 
available this warm evening, we gather on the 
porch to be entertained by the learned con- 
verse of the professors, until an approaching 
storm drives us in-doors. Within the "shoot- 
ing-box," as the young man who has travelled 
christens the house, — thinking that an appro- 
priate title for a domicile where so many mem- 
bers of the Hunt family are collected, — there 
is a motley assembly, as they gather around 
the sitting-room table. There are Portu- 
guese, Michiganders, Pennites, Illinoisyones, 
Bangorillas, and otlier specimens of natural 
history such as would have puzzled Agassiz 
himself; and the question arises, " What shall 
we do to amuse ourselves this rainy evening I " 
But " Pat," the engineer, oiler of the domestic 



198 OVER THE BORDER. 

machinery of the estabhshment, and keeper of 
this menagerie, seems overcome with fatigue ; 
the Astronomer is eclipsed in a corner; the pro- 
fessors are absorbed in sines and co-sines ; the 
Fisherman nods over his paper ; Grandma knits 
lier brows and the stocking ; Elsie is deep in a 
book ; and no one displays any special inter- 
est in the matter until pencils and paper are 
distributed for the game of Crambo. The 
modus operandi of that most wise and learned 
game is as follows : Four slips of paper are 
given each person, on one of which he is re- 
quested to write a question, and on each of the 
other scraps a word. These are then shuffled, 
and all in turn draw. And now there is great 
commotion, for each participant is expected to 
answer his question in rhyme, and to bring 
the three words wliicli lie has drawn, into his 
answer, also. Such a chorus of " Oh dears," 
and such dismayed faces ! The student pro- 
poses to procure the coffee-mill to assist him 
in grinding out his ''pome ; " the tennis-player 
wishes slie had a hatchet to chop up a long 
word which has fallen to her lot, so that she 



*'UISLE DES MONTS DESERTS." 199 

can put it in proper metre; but Mr. Short 
(6 ft. 2 in.), with watch in hand, calls " Time," 
and then " Silence," as pencils race over papers 
as if on a wager. Ten minutes is the brief 
space allotted for the production of the won- 
drous effusions; and when Mr. S. announces, 
'' Time 's up," the hat is again full ; and one says, 
with a sigh of relief, ''There, I never made 
two lines rhyme in my life before ; " another 
modestly remarks, "You needn't think we are 
verdant because we are in Green — " but the 
warning finger of the Philosopher is raised, and 
Pat, the reader, begins, emphasizing the words 
drawn as he reads : — 

" Why so much quarrelling about Eeligion 1 
It's as plain as string beans 
That from this very means 
The world is not right ; 
If I had but clear sight 
I might hope ere this night 
Is beginning to wane 
The thing to explain. 
But, lacking the wit, 
I must e'en submit 
This doggerel rhyme 
And hope 't is in time." 



200 OVER THE BORDER. 

** Oh ! oh ! " exclaimed the " small specimen " 
(aged ten), '^ that 's Grandma's ; I heard her say 
she 'knows beans,' 'cause she is a Yankee;" 
but the S. S. subsides on hearing- the next 
paper read, and shows so plainly that she 
''wishes herself further" that it is not difficult 
to guess the author : — 

" What 's quicker than lightning ? 
A Tur^ei/ or a squirrel 
Can ' cut ' like a knife 
But I never saw a creature rush 
Like a deer in all my life." 

" Good for Ten-year-old ! " exclaim the chorus ; 
and the S. S., brightening up, concludes she '11 
try it again sometime. Next comes the ques- 
tion : — 

" "Where do cabbages come from ? 
My will is good, and I propose 
To tell you all I can. 
In this dry time a garden hose 
Must come into the plan. 
First plant the seed, and in due course 
Will little shoots appear, 
When each from other has divorce 
They '11 flourish, it is clear. 



'TISLE DES MONTS DESERTS." 201 

If this rhyme is worth preserving, 
With mucilage it may be fixed 
On any wall deserving 
Such wit and wisdom mixed." 

As it is well known that the natives of the 
Emerald Isle have a predilection for cabbages, 
it is unanimously decided that none but Pat 
could have perpetrated this ; so Pat grins, sug- 
gests that a bill poster be secured at once, and 
proceeds : — 

" How would you like to be a cat 1 
In Timhuctoo each stern ascetic, 
Though blind to folly as a bat, 
Revels in love peripatetic 
Which makes him nimble as a cat. 
But though I 'm fond of such agility, 
I better like the busy bees, 
For they display so much ability 
They 'mind one of the Portur/ueseJ' 

At this implied compliment to his people, the 
black eyes of the foreign student flash ap- 
proval ; and the Mathematician speaks up, say- 
ing, '' That is the Philosopher, sure, and proves 
the truth of the saying, ' A little nonsense now 
and then is relished by the wisest men.' " The 



202. OVER THE BORDER. 

Philosopher smiles benignantly, but does not 
deny the charge ; and the reader continues : — 

" What do you think of the Ornithorhynchus ? 
My hrain 's iu a ' muss ' 
From thinking of this ' cuss ' 
(Excuse me for using such a word). 
If it lived at Nahant 
With this heat it would pant, 
For surely 't is a curious bird. 
You may think me a ' muff,' 
And declare I talk stuff, 
But I hope you '11 not doubt my word. 
For though out in all weathers 
Its coat 's not of feathers 
But of fur ; — at least so I 've heard. 
But ' by this illuviination ' 
(Kant's ratiocination 1) 
' I don't see it,' though it may seem quite absurd." 

The comj)any, strange to say, hit upon Elsie 
for this, and are evidently surprised that one so 
given up to pomps and vanities should display 
such knowledge of natural history ; but they 
evidently suspect her of shining by reflected 
light, as she sits next to the Philosopher ; and 
I heard her ask him a question about this ani- 
mal with the jaw-breaking name. By this time 
the party have become so brilliant, having 



'' L'ISLE DES MONTS DESERTS." 203 

polished each other up as by diamond cutters' 
wheels, that it is "moved and seconded" that 
we " try again." The laughter has brought 
down the Chemist from, the laboratory, the 
Fisherman from his den ; besides rousing the 
Astronomer, who scintillates in the corner to 
such a degree that all others expect to be 
totally eclipsed. This time the Fisherman, who 
is also an amateur gardener and farmer on a 
small scale, draws an appropriate question, in 
regard to which he enlightens us as follows ; 
and what he says must be true, as we know he 
has had experience with pigs and hens : — 

" Which knows most, a pig or a hen 1 
'Tis hard to tell in rustic rhyme 
What pigs or hens may know. 
A cabbage-head in olden time 
Sure knew enough to grow. 
If Balm and corn to them were thrown 
By parsimonious Bill 
I think the fact would then be shown, 
For Piggy 'd eat his fill." 

Next comes the Chemist with the question : — 

" Do you like peanuts 1 
Peanuts are double, 



204 OVER THE BORDER. 

And so is the trouble 
Involved in eforf 
To answer it. 
Hand over a few, 
And see if I do 
Not like peanuts 
Better than ScmsIcriV 

Any one who had heard the Chemist warb- 
ling, — 

" He Avho hath good peanuts and gives his neighbor none, 
He sha'n't have any of my peanuts when his peanuts are 
gone," 

would not have doubted this. 

The Philosopher next airs his learning in 
the following: — 

" What do you admire in a fool 1 
Water has such comhustihility 
That one may rightfully admire 
The happy lack of wise ability 
Which never rivers sets on lire. 
Truth needs no reccqntulation 
To make what 's simple plainer still. 
Folly courts our admiration 
Wherever Fashion has her will." 

Part of this is so abstruse that I fear the com- 
pany do not fully appreciate it ; so the next is 



*T1SLE DES MONTS DESERTS." 205 

quite startling ; and after hearing it we learn 
the cause of the Astronomer's silent merriment 
in the corner, and rejoice that Dr. Holmes's 
experience in "writing- as funny as he could" 
has proved a warning to this individual : — 

" "Wliat is stronger than an onion ? 
Oh, scissors ! on a summer night 
To tax a fat republican 
In thinking out with all his might 
Some miglitier thing than on-i-on. 
Garlic, maybe 's not strong enough 
Well, I'll exert my ' spunk ^ 
So here you have it, *in the rough,' — 
A pole-cat, alias s — k." 

The Oleaginous Personage comes next with 
the question, "Do you like Crambo?" which 
was answered, rather ambiguously, thus : — 

" If our last lingo was a specimen, 
Of this most wise and learned game, 
'Tis sure that thus not many men 
Would long be known to fame. 
Any of you as well as I 
Would knock our type all into Pi, 
If ghost, or man, or printer's devil 
Should show us up for good or evil." 



206 OVER THE BOEDER. ^ 

Here the sedate and dignified Elsie gives her 
opinion of a summer recreation after this 
fashion : — 

" Are you fond of fishing 1 
A foolish amusement, it seems to me, 
To be rocking about on the briny sea 
Watching for bites 'neath a broiling sun, 
(Mosquitoes will give you 'em when day is done) 
For my part I 'd rather be left in 2^eace 
To read of travels in sunny Greece 
Varied by poem on ' Pleasures of Hope ; ' 
— Whate'er my employment I shall not mope — 
But it proves great sport for cousin BilL 
(He 's a youth just starting up Life's hill) 
But sliould he as old as I become 
He would conclude that 't is all a ' hum,' " 

Where a person generally considered 
^' proper " became familiar with slang I can- 
not imagine, but I make no remarks. 0\Ying 
to the absence of two members of the house- 
hold, who, having been caught out in the 
shower, are probably calculating the specific 
gravity of rain-drops and their effect on new 
straw hats, we have doubtless been deprived 
of more poems of surprising depth and bril- 
liancy. And, from regard for the excessive 



'TISLE DBS MONTS DESERTS." 207 

modesty of other participants in the game, I 
suppress manj compositions of rare merit 
wh'ich were brought out this stormy evening. 
This letter is merely to acquaint you with 
an important fact, which is as follows. As Dr. 
Holmes has informed you with regard to the 
^'Asylum for Decayed Punsters," be it known 
hereby that we have here started a rival insti- 
tution, — - a school for poets ; so when you wish 
to secure the services of any of the graduates, 
you may know where to apply. And the 
reason why the game of Crambo is like night 
is, because it is quiet in the middle and noisy 
at both ends. 



INDEX. 



INDEX. 



Abb^ Rayxal 172 

Abbe Segoigne 172 

Acadia, derivation of name . . 12 
" limits of region known 



" ceded to England . . 140 
Acadians, banishment of . . 140 
" exempted from bear- 
ing arms against 
France .... 140 
" modern .... 162-17-3 
" relics of. . . . 66-71 
Admiralty House .... 126, 127 

Advocate Harbor 30 

Almshouse, Philadelphia, old 

Friends' 38 

Amazon Kiver, tidal wave of . 27 

Amusements for rainy davs 194, 195, 

198-206 

Anemone Cave 190 

Annapolis 61-110 

" Apostle Spoons . 71-74 
*' " " anec- 

dotes of and quo- 
tations referring 

to 74-76 

" appearance of town 61,62 
" apple crop .... 93 
" Argall's incursion 50, 51 
" Basin . . . 105, 113, 166 



bells, tradition of 


, 68 


block-house 


. 63 


cemetery . . 


. 76 


church services 


. 92 


climate . . . 


82, 83 


fort, history of 


55-57 


" at present 


61,62 


people, summei 




guests, etc. . 


81, 82 


poem of 1720 . 


99-102 



PAGE 

Annapolis River, currents and 

tide of 85 

" romance, a bit of . 77-81 

" window gardening . 103 

Argall's incursions . . 50, 51, 192 

Argyle Bay 174 

Bate Fran^oise 17 

" Fond de la 17 

" Ste. Marie 155 

Banishment of Acadians or Neu- 
trals 140 

Baptism of Indians at Annapolis 49 
Baptismal customs, ancient . . 73 
Basin, Annapolis . . 105, 113, 166 

" Minas 22, 29 

Basque fishermen 167 

Bay, Argyle 174 

Bay of Fiindy . . . 15, 17, 19, 20 
'■ " '• passage across . 179 
" " " tidal line in water 179 
" Shore excursion .... 104 

Beau-S^jour 143 

Bell metal 70 

" " Carolus " of Antwerp . 70 
" founders of Belgium . . 70 

Bells 68, 69 

Block-house, Annapolis ... 62 
" " Winslow, Me. , 63 

Blomidon, minerals of . . . 30 
Blomidon Cape, legend of . . 31 
Bon Temps, L'Ordre de . 45, 46 

Bore 19-21 

Breton fishermen 167 

Brook, Frenchman's .... 67 
"Buckboard" 186 

Cajeans 148 

Canoing 186 



212 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Care Breton Island, fortifica- 
tions of 141,142 

Cape Blomidou 30 

" Chignecto 30 

" Sharp 34 

" Split 35 

" d'Or 30 

Cave, Anemone 190 

Champlain, Samuel de . . . 173 
Channel, St. George's ... 166 
Citadel, Halifax .... 127-131 

Clare 153-180 

" characteristics of people . 162 
" church service .... 160 

" convent 163 

" costume 161, 162 

" customs, etc 173 

" furniture, peculiar house 162 

'' pronunciation . . . 172, 173 

Cod Banks, Newfoundland . . 167 



D'AuLNAY 53 

De Monts, Pierre du Guast, 

Sieur de . . . 35-48 
" Henry IV. grants 

title to 36 

-iw. " arrival of iu Acadia 40, 
^ 174 

" captures Rossignol . 41 
" in St. Mary's liay 41, 155 
" returns to France . . 45 
" returns to Pmt Royal 

with supplies . . 47 
" reception of, b}' colo- 
nists 47 

" relinquishes right to 
Acadia, returning to 
France .... 48 

De Poutrincourt 48 

De Ramezay 57 

De Razillv 53 

Desert, Mt 183-195 

Deserts, Monts, I'lsle des . 183-195 

Digbv 113-120 

" - Gap .... 105, 178, 179 

" " rock formations in 178, 

179 

" herring 117 

" Neck 166 

" restaurants, odd little . 117 



PAGE 

Dikes of liquille 94 

" " Grand Pr6 . . . . 137 
Duvivier 56 

Eagre . 21 

Early fishers on coasts of Nova 

Scotia and Newfoundland . 167 
England, treatj^ between France 

and 53 

English attacks on Port Royal 55, 56 
Episode of De Monts's sojourn 

iu St. Mary's Bay . . 166, 167 

Epitaphs, peculiar . . . .76, 119 

liquille, description of . . . 85 

" significance of name . 85 

" tidal effects on . . . 85 

Eucharistic implements and 

customs 73 

Evangeline, a modern, 156, 157, 100 
" diiferent represen- 

tations of . . 96, 97 
"Evangeline," quotations from, 11, 
22, 37, 38, 60, 70, 
80, 91, 96, 97, 131, 
136, 137, 139, 1 U), 
141, 146, 148, 153, 
154, 160, 165, 170, 
171, 176 
" what led to the 

writing of .... 148, 149 

Farms, modern Acadian . . 108 

Fernald's Point 192 

Festival, village . . . 177, 178 
Feud of De Razilly's lieutenants 53 
Fishers on Nova Scotia coast, 

ancient • 167 

Fishing, Annapolis and Dig- 
by 116, 117 

Five Islands 30 

Forest fires 107, 108 

Fort, A nnapolis . . .55, 57, 61, 02 

" Beau-Sejour 143 

" Gaspereau 143 

" Louisburg .... 141, 142 

French dominions 141 

" dike made by . . . . 137 
" well " " . . . . 137 
" Neutrals in Philadelphia 39 
" " banisiiment of 140 

" settlement, Mt. Desert . 192 



INDEX. 



213 



French settlement, Mt. Desert, 
destruction of . ... 51, 192 



Frenchman's Brook 
Friends' Almshouse 
Fund}', etymology of 
" " tides of . . 



GAMfts .... 194, 195, 198-206 
Gap, Digby .... 105, 178, 179 

Gaspereau, Fort 1-t'^ 

valley 138 

Gheyn, van den (bell founder) 70 
Gibraltar of America .... 142 

Glooscap, Indian giant ... 31 

Grand Pre . . ' . . • • 135-150 

" " coliin ..... 135 

" " dike . . . ... 137 

" " house, priest's, site 

of : .... 136 

'• '' smithy, site of . . 13G 

" " well 137 

Grant of Acadia 51 

" " Virginia 51 

Granville ferry 8G, 87 

" Lower (old cannon) . 106 

Great Head 190 

Green JNIountain .... 190, 191 

Guast, Pierre du 30 

Guerciieville, Mme. de- . . . 49 



Halifax 123-131 

" Adminlty House 126, 12i 
'• Arm, North West . . 131 
" books, interesting . . 126 

" churches 126 

citadel .... 127-131 
" en route to ... • 123 

" gardens 126 

Harbor 130 

" Parliament Building . 125 
•' Point Pleasant . . • 130 

Harbor, Advocate 30 

" Halifax 130 

Havre du Saint Sauveur . . 193 
Hemony (bell founder of Bel- 

. gium") "0 

Henry IV. of France .... 36 
Historical references, Port Roy- 
al and Annapolis . . • 40-57 



Hooghlv River, tidal wave of . 20 

Hospitalitv, 71, 86, 87, 104, 105, 124, 

170 



IxcuRsiONS of Argall . . . 
Indian baptism, Annapolis . 

" giant, legend of . . 

" settlement on Equille 
Island, Long 

" Partridge . . . . 
Islands, Five 



50, 51 
49 
31 
108 
166 
30 
30 



Jesuits sent to Port Royal . . 49 
" found colony at Mt. De- 
sert 49 

Joggin, the 116 

Jotun 21 



Kixg's decree announced to 
Neutrals .... 136, 137, 140 

Kings and nobles patrons of bell 
founders 70 

La Haa're bu Saint Sauveur 193 

Lake La Rose 106 

Lake Rossignol 41 

Laloutre 56 

La Roohelle 147 

La Tour 53-55 

Latten ware 75 

Le Borgne 55 

Legend of Bloniidon .... 31 

" " owls and loons . . 33 

Lescarbot 47 

Limits of Acadia 50 

" Virginia 51 

L'Isle des Monts Deserts . 183-195 

Logging-camp life 115 

Long Island 166 

Loons, Indian legend of . • . 33 
L'Ordre de Bon Temps • . 45, 46 
Louisburg 141, 142 

Mackenzie road 106 

Mackerouse 173 



214 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Mary's Baj', St. ..... 155 

Membertou 110 

Minas Basin 22-29 

Moncton, Bore at .... . 21 

Moncton, General 143 

Monts, De 36-48 

Monts Deserts, I'Isle des . 183-195 

Mt. Desert 183-195 

Mountain, Green .... 190, 191 



Neutrals, French, in Philadel- 
phia 39 

" in Massachusetts and 

Louisiana . . 147, 148 

" history of 140 

Newfoundland Cod Banks . . 167 

Number of Acadians banished . 150 

Norman fishers 167 

North West Arm, Halifax 

Harbor 131 

Oath of Kine; George . . . 140 

Oegir . . \ 21 

Odin 21 

Old cannon of Lower Granville 106 
" cemetery, Annapolis ... 76 
" French dike. Grand Pre . 137 
" " well " " . 137 

" " song 157 

" poem 99-102 

" soldiers' tales . . . . 64, 65 

Or, Cape d' 30 

Ordre de Bon Temps ... 45, 46 
Owls, Indian belief about crv 

of ". 33 

Ox-yokes, peculiar .... 168 



Parker's Mountain . . . 106 

Parliament Building, Halifax . 125 

Passage, Grand 165 

" Petit 165 

Phipps, Sir Wm 55 

Pisiquid (Windsor) .... 144 

Point Pleasant, Halifax . . . 130 

Poitou 147 

Port Royal 45-56 

Portuguese fishermen .... 167 

Poutrincourt, De 48 



Priest, Indian's trick on 
Primitive railroad . . 
Prince Edward Island 



PAGE 

50 

24 

143 



Eeception of De Monts by col- 
onists . 47 

Records of Acadians (in Bos- 
ton) 147 

Relics, Annapolis .... 66-71 

Rifle Brigade, Annapolis . . 57 

"Rocking" 188 

Rossignol 41 

Royal, Port 45-56 

Sacramental customs ... 73 

Saintonge 147 

Scandinavian mj'thologv . . 21 

S(^goigne "... 172 

S(5jour, Beau, Fort 143 

Service, church, at coast settle- 
ment 162 

Settlers of Minas Basin . . . 145 

Shakspeare, anecdote of . . . 74 

Sharp, Cape 34 

Siege of Louisburg . . . . 142 

Sieur de Monts 36-48 

Song, old French 157 

Sound, Somes 191 

Split, Cape 34 

State in Schuylkill Club ... 110 

St. George's Channel .... 166 

St. John 179, 180 

" St. John, 1647. •' part of Whit- 
tier's poem 54 

St. John's Island 148 

St. Mary's Bay 154 

" "" " ancient voyagers 

in . . '. . . 167 

" " " species of fish in 168 

Styx 34 

Subercase 55 

Taking life easilv . . . 102, 103 

Teintang River .' 20 

Tides of Fundv 20 

To tempt the taste .... 88, 89 
Tradition of church bells, An- 
napolis 69 



INDEX. 



215 



Troubles leading to banish- 
ment of Acadiaus .... 140 



Unikas, Great Lake of . . . 32 

United States money .... 91 

Utrecht, treaty of 140 

Victoria Bridge 116 

Village festival, coast settle- 

,, ment 137^ 133 

Villebon. De 55 



Voyages, ancient, St. Marv's 
Bay, etc " . 167 



Ware, latten . . . . 
Whittier, part of poem . 
Windmills, peculiar . . 
Windsor, desolation near 
" former name . 

Winslow, Me 

Wishing rock .... 



75 

54 

169 

123 

144 

o;j 

93 



Yarmouth 173, 174 



University Press : John Wilson & Son, Cambridge. 











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